Help send Nazeela to graduate school

Please join us in sending Nazeela Elmi to Columbia University for her Master’s degree in Human Rights Studies. Nazeela was born in rural Afghanistan in 1997, one of a generation of Afghan girls suddenly able to get an education after the Taliban lost power in 2003. She is now a young woman making a difference in the world. Graduating at the top of her class in high school, she enrolled in the TED University in Ankara, Turkey. Studying in her third language (she speaks five and has published in three), she graduated last spring, again at the top of her class in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. That’s her getting her diploma in the picture.

 

She then landed a prestigious research job with the Asia Foundation in Kabul, to start in July of 2021. The fall of Kabul last summer destroyed that opportunity. She then landed an internship with the UN Development Program in Ankara, and began to apply to graduate schools, hoping to stay on track with her career plans. She has been admitted to master’s programs at Columbia University, the London School of Economics, New York University, Kings College London, and the University of Colorado at Denver.

 

The Master’s Degree in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University most closely matches her career goals of promoting human rights for Afghan women and other marginalized people in her country and elsewhere in the world. However, it costs a lot of money to go there – over $100,000 a year.

 

This GoFundMe will raise the money necessary to cover the costs of Nazeela’s attendance at Columbia University. Your donations will cover the cost of her travel to the US, university tuition and other fees, housing and other expenses related to her studies during her stay in the United States.

 

We need to raise $84,400 for her first academic year; the full program lasts 18 months. The full cost is $100,400, but the University has already given Nazeela a $16,000 scholarship. The US Department of State says that we must show that we have raised that amount before Nazeela can receive her visa. Once Nazeela has a clearer idea of how demanding her studies will be, she is very interested in working to help cover her costs, but will not be able to decide that until she begins the program.

 

An anonymous donor has offered to cover the 2.9% fee that GoFundMe charges for this service, so 100% of your gift will go to help Nazeela go to Columbia.

 

And we need your help now, so that Nazeela can begin the often slow visa application process.

 

The Human Rights Program of The People’s Consultants (a well-established 501(c)3 organization operating in the US and internationally for over 40 years) has agreed to receive and disburse donations for Nazeela’s education, without charge. Your donations are tax-deductible.

 

If you felt helpless as you watched thousands flee the Taliban takeover last August, here is a chance to do something meaningful for a young leader from that country.

 

Thank you very much.