Help Two Gazan Sisters Start University and Live in Cairo

Hello everyone, my name is Samar, and I'm a student from Connecticut fundraising on behalf of my friends, Sama and Tasneem Ahel from Gaza. Sama and Tasneem are two sisters from North Gaza who are close friends of my family. For the past nine months, I've watched their family face displacement and severe hunger. This past spring, the girls were able to leave Gaza and go to Cairo, where they are now living alone without citizenship, aid, or any kind of safety net from the Egyptian government. There, they are trying to continue their education. Life is extremely expensive and difficult for displaced Palestinians living in Egypt, and we are hoping to get enough support to allow Sama and Tasneem to enter university. This is their key to the careers they dream of and being able to support their family in Gaza.

Sama and Tasneem had both been university students in Gaza before the war. Tasneem is a truly gifted and passionate medical student who has persevered through several humanitarian crises and remains determined to achieve her goals of becoming a doctor and serving her people. She worked hard to get the best grades and matriculate into a dental program in Gaza. She studied medicine for three years until the war began, and all her progress was lost.

Sama is hoping to study engineering in Cairo. For as long as I've known her, engineering is all she's talked about, full of excitement. In Gaza, she was always being recognized by her school for excellence in her subject, and I know that if she had the opportunity, she would shake the world with her passion and talent.

Tasneem uploaded this video to her instagram explaining her love for medicine and her experience during the war: click here to watch! She's truly incredible.

Sama and Tasneem's family was displaced several times within Gaza over the course of the war, and finally, they had to make the impossible decision to separate. The girls' family sent them to Cairo so that they would have the chance to continue their studies and pursue their dreams. Believing that this was their best chance to build a future in which they could support their family, Sama and Tasneem risked the dangerous journey to Rafah alone. There, they waited weeks before being able to cross into Egypt.

Both girls were able to get into university in Cairo, but the expenses for Palestinian students are impossible for two young girls to shoulder alone. On top of that, they live alone, trying to manage rent along with other living expenses.

Tasneem's medical program will cost 4,000 USD annually, while Sama's engineering program will cost 6,000 USD. We're hoping to raise enough money to allow both girls to complete their first year of university while sustaining themselves in Cairo, opening the door to scholarships and further opportunities for them to pursue their education.

When the schools in Gaza were destroyed, so were the years of hard work that so many young Gazans had committed to their futures. Please help us give Sama and Tasneem a chance to chase the futures they were dreaming of before the war, and show them that their struggles have not been in vain!

A message from Tasneem:

"I am someone who chases their goals and isn't ready to back down from them, even if it means walking into death with my eyes wide open. I lost three years of my life, and I decided to start over (in Egypt). It doesn't matter when, or how, or anything else. What matters is that we keep going, because we need to stand strong!"

Thank you so much for your support, it's truly a gift. Any funds that we are able to raise will be sent to Sama and Tasneem in Cairo to be used for their university fees and living expenses, and you will have contributed to making the dreams of two young Palestinian girls a reality. Thank you.