Muhammad has worked with Mother Tongues and Mother Tongues Festival on a range of projects, from community projects for adults to educational projects for primary schools and for teachers. Working with Muhammad is always a pleasure because he doesn't only bring his professionalism and expertise but also his warmth, friendliness and positivity.
Francesca La Morgia
"Founder of Mother Tongues and Mother Tongues Festival - Linguist and lecturer"
I worked with Muhammad as a team also in Aleppo University, it is not only his knowledge and enthusiasm, But his personality and magnificent character which made him essential to the team, a friend, a mentor and great motivation for all of us bringing our best around him.
Salah Haj Ismail
Assoc.prof.Arch. Sapienza University of Rome
I have worked with the Muhammad Achour for nearly three years on a project which offers asylum seekers, migrants and refugees in Ireland opportunities to engage with our natural and cultural heritage, and to mix socially with Irish people. Muhammad's contribution to this project has been invaluable, first as a multi-tasking volunteer, and then as my partner on what we now call Sanctuary in Nature and Heritage. It was Muhammad who persuaded me that we should include built heritage on our excursions and adding value and appeal on recent trips to sites like Castletown House and Ardgillan Castle. I have been very impressed with his ability to network effectively with the Syrian community and others in Direct Provision, and to seek out multiple imaginative ways of improving the quality of their lives. I am equally impressed with his engagement with diverse Irish groups, in arts, sports, universities, and architecture. His professional qualifications speak for themselves, but it is the way in which he has used his skills and experience to create projects like Places of ARcture, and to bring the work and ideas of his architect colleagues and former students in Aleppo, who live under such painful conditions, to international audiences, is inspiring.
Paddy Woodworth
Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis.
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Languages and Literatures, University College, Dublin.
Author, journalist, lecturer, cultural/environmental tour guide.
It is very heartening thing to see a young Syrian Architect, far from home, sharpen his skills
against the day when he can return and with his fellow countrymen and rebuild his country.
A country of great antiquity, Syria will be rebuilt, restored to its former glory with modern knowledge
and technology, and the industry and craft of its people. May this day dawn soon !