Fundraising Appeal for a Fellow Activist!

Hello all;

I don’t tend to post any personal fundraising appeals on this blog, but I believe that this one I’m now posting is important. It’s about a friend, a fellow activist from Gaza…and basically about supporting one of our own! This is about our friend Nader Monzer (aka @imNadZ on Twitter) from Gaza.

Students or potential students from Gaza facegreat difficulties accessing education abroad – for graduate school for example. As you all know traveling in and out of Gaza has its own challenges. Being accepted by a university and obtaining the funds to be able to study abroad is whole other can of worms. And this is why I am now posting this fundraising appeal.

Nader, in spite of the fierce competition for graduate positions, has received an unconditional offer for an MScin Business Intelligence & Analytics at the University of Westminster in UK! Unfortunately this offer does not also include any form of funding. In Canada or the US, grad students most often also receive Teaching Assistant positions or offers to act as research assistants to help pay their tuition. This is not the case here.

The full time 1-year course is starting in September 2011, which means that there’s little time for all the necessary procedures. The University only issues the Confirmations of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) letter after the potential students pay £4000, which is obligatory as well to be able to apply for a student visa.

However, according to the latest statistics, the unemployment rate in Gaza is higher than 40% and as a result of these difficult employment conditions, Nader does not currently have a job that would help him pay for his education.

Needless to say, for almost anyone else in the world education or traveling abroad for education is something obvious and nothing special. But for someone in Gaza it is almost impossible without some help from others. So please help if you can! Any amount that you would like to/are able to donate is appreciated!

So our appeal is: Let’s Make His Dream “Just Once, Please… ” Come True!

The total fees for academic year 2011/12 starting in September 2011 according to tuitionfees spreadsheet published on the website of the University of Westminster the costs for the expenses in GBP are:

Type	Estimated Cost
Tuition Fees	10,785*
Accommodation	650**
Bills	50**
Transportation	70**
Living Expenses	400**

** Total fees for academic year 2011/12 starting in September 2011 according to tuition fees spreadsheet 

     published on the website of the University of Westminster.

** Monthly Estimate.

For more information contact @imNadZ, or to make a direct  donation via his weblog and be part of making this dream and once in a lifetime chance into reality go to Nader's blog: Sleepless in Gaza (the donation button is on the right side of his blog page).

Please circulate this blog post far and wide! Let’s help out our friend Nader!

~ Sofia Smith