After fleeing Egypt, Vancouver migrant aims to give back to refugees with coding

When Omar Sabry first came to Canada, he had nothing but two suitcases and a laptop.

He fled his home country ofEgyptduring the political unrest of the Arab Spring in 2013. Hemade his way to Vancouver on the advice of a friend.

Sabry said it was a desperate time, but things started looking up when he signed up for a coding class at the University of British Columbia.

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"It was a stressful time in my life. I remember having to make enough money to pay for [rent and school]," he told CBC'sOn The Coaston World Refugee Day.

"UBC had a program that was trying to give people who are slightly oldera crash course into computer science and they try to connect you withjob and employment opportunities. So I applied for that and I somehow got in."

He slept on the floor of a basementduring that time, paying tuition with his grandmother's help.

As his passion for programming grew, he went from the floor to a full-time, well-paying job.

He met his business partner Alex Stickleyon vacation some time later,and the pair founded aclothing company called "horriblenoise," based in Vancouver.

Sabrysaid the skills he picked up in the UBC program including how to create a website have helped him as abusinessowner.

Now, he wants to help give other refugees the same opportunity for education he had.

Sabry and Stickleyare donating a month's worth of proceeds from their business to acharity called Re:Coded, which hosts coding bootcamps for refugees and displaced youth.

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"I used to be in a similar position where I was unemployed in a collapsing country in the Middle East and I didn't really have skills that I could use," Sabry said."So the idea of giving that skill to people in refugee camps just seems like a very good solution."

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He said he also hopes to mentor young refugees some time in the future.

Listen to his full story below:

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast