Please help Yara from Gaza study at Earlham

Dear friends and family,

Yara M has been accepted into Earlham College for the Fall 2021 and needs your help to get there! Earlham is a Quaker school in Richmond, Indiana that has long been known for supporting Palestinian and other Muslim students. They have offered her an extensive scholarship, covering roughly 2/3rds of her annual expenses, but to get her student visa, she needs to be able to show adequate financial support for the family contribution, which is $25,000 per year. Given the situation in Gaza, this is impossible for her family to do alone.

Many of us were lucky to meet Yara during her year as an AFS exchange student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD. We have seen her enthusiasm for teaching about Palestine and her cultural traditions as well as her profound interest in languages. While in Maryland, she volunteered as an Arabic tutor while studying English, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL). Back in Gaza, she has shared her knowledge of ASL with others, especially encouraging deaf Gazans to consider applying for AFS scholarships. She is destined to be a bridge builder, and is over the moon with excitement to study comparative language and linguistics at Earlham.

For all those who have met Yara, you know that when she puts her mind to do something, nothing can stop her. Please help her get from Gaza to Earlham College by making a donation to cover her expenses for this year, and ideally beyond.

Please reach out if you have any questions,

Susan Baker and Fida Adely

Yara’s AFS host moms 2018-2019