Help Ahmed study & pursue his passion outside Gaza

Ahmed Matar is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Nour Matar.

Donation protected

I am Ahmed Matar. I am 19-year-old aspiring game developer and self-taught artist. I have been passionate about 3D creation and game development since I was 10. And since then, I have been pursuing the goal of becoming a game developer and working the in the games industry.

I have made many 3D artworks, participated in Group Challenges, and even joined development of a fan game. I am quite passionate about stylized fantasy worlds, both sci-fi and medieval settings. Most of my work as a 3D artist revolve around these 2 themes.

My dreams, aspirations, and goals. All came crashing down when the war started, as I bared witness to the destruction of my city, neighborhood, places, and memories so dear to my heart.

On the 13th of October last year, we were ordered to evacuate to the South of Gaza Strip. I left my house, my only home with nothing but my laptop and some cloths, assuming I will come back in matter of hours, or days at most. I was wrong. Since that day, I have evacuated to 12 different places. Most of them were utterly unfit for basic survival.

I am currently taking shelter in the City of Deir El Balah. I was going to evacuate Gaza, however, the Rafah crossing was closed as Israel invaded the crossing, thus cutting off the only way out of Gaza. I plan to evacuate to safety in Egypt as soon as the crossing reopens.

I have recently received an offer from Futuregames, a top game development school in Sweden, to study their Game Artist program in the city of Karlstad. This offer has opened a beacon of hope for me, showing a light at the end of this torturous tunnel. Unfortunately, due to exhausting all resources my family had because of the war, I cannot afford to study at Futuregames.

Securing funds to study at Futuregames will not only allow me to obtain top-notch education in game development, but secure a safe and effective path for me to study and work in the career of my dreams. As of now, Gaza remains a pile of rubble and disease, empty of any hope for a bright future for education or otherwise. I humbly ask you to consider donating to help me safely pursue education and grow my passion away from death and destruction.

The Game Artist program is 2-year diploma. As non-EU international student, I need to pay 20,000 EURO for tuition. The program will take place in Karlstad, which has living costs for students around 750 EUR per month. Moreover, as a foreign student I need to have a comprehensive health insurance which costs 200 EUR per month in Sweden.

For now, I aim to collect funds for the tuition and health insurance costs.

Here's a full breakdown of the costs:

Tuition: 20,000 EUR (5,000 per semester)

Health insurance: 4,800 EUR (200 per month X 24 months)

Travel Costs: 400 EUR

Residence Permit and Visa fees: 200 EUR

Total: 25,000 EUR

Since the funds are going to be withdrawn in GBP. The total, at the current conversion rate, will be 21,250 GBP.

With the estimated fundraiser fees of 1,800 GBP. It brings the total to 23,000 GBP

The funds will be going to my sister's account, who currently resides in the UK.

Conversion rate information: https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter/en/?from=EUR&to=GBP&amount=25000

Every donation regardless of amount will go a long way in aiding me to have a brighter future