Fundraiser for financing my studies

Background:

My story begins in small town in Palestine, completely isolated from the rest of the world. I was four years old when the wall around my hometown was built. I grew up watching houses being demolished, military tanks carved through our neighbourhood, and armed soldiers raided our houses. A few years later, the situation came to rest, the fog had settled, and the wall was blocking the horizon. Blockades and military checkpoints were everywhere, and people were struggling to make a living. My hometown had turned into a big prison.

The situation became unbearable. I had an overwhelming urge to escape from being caged between the walls of the Israeli occupation, and the restrictions of my conservative community. And by the time I was sixteen, I decided to take that leap of faith, and I made a promise to myself that I will break free from this horrible reality. I traveled from one Palestinian city to another looking for my freedom, somewhere where I could feel safe and understood, but all I found was more suffering, more poverty, and more walls.

I was desperate. I had to make enough money to be able to travel, and start a new life, far away from all the walls and the checkpoints. I soon realised that the only way out was through the wall itself. In 2017, I managed to sneak into Israel. It was a life changing experience. I could finally see the horizon, the ocean, and the feeling of freedom that was often interrupted by the fear of getting caught. Time went by, and after a whole year of hard work, I managed to save up enough money to be able to travel. I also had a better understanding of the conflict, and the way it is affecting people on both sides. I wanted to become a filmmaker, and to share my stories with the rest of the world. But I was illegal in Israel, and I had to find a way to travel and to attend a film school where I can develop my skills as a filmmaker. In 2018, I went back to Palestine to try and apply for a visa to travel to Europe, and after a whole year of failed attempts, I finally got my visa, and I was finally able to fly away from the walls that had caged me all my life.

Current Situation:

I came to Berlin in 2019 with the dream of becoming a filmmaker and learning the necessary skills to be able to make a living from my film work. However, in order to get to Germany there many obstacles, and money was the biggest issue. In order to get my student visa I had to put 8,829€ in a blocked bank account so that I will be able to finance my stay here, since I was not allowed to work in my first year here, so I already arrived here with almost 10,000€ of debt because I had to borrow this money in order to be allowed to travel. I was studying in a private university because my German was not good enough to be able to study at a state university, and it cost me around 4,800€ per semester which I knew I couldn’t afford but I was willing to do what ever it takes to be able to pursue my dreams. So by the end of the first semester I had spent all of the money that I borrowed and I was slowly accumulating debt and the pandemic started which made it even more difficult to find work. I got kicked out of my house and was homeless for the first few months of lockdown, which led to more debt and all kinds of psychological and physical health issues.

I tried everything I could to find help, a loan, or state funding but all my efforts were faced with rejection as I accumulated more debt with every month that went. Eventually I tried to freeze my studies but the school kept charging me because the contract allows them to do so. So by the end of 2020 I had almost 20,000€ euros of debt, and was emotionally and physically drained.

However, I eventually pulled my things together, I found a room and started working 2 Jobs in order to be able to pay back some of the debt and to pay my rent and expenses. I borrowed money from anyone I knew, I started crowd funding, I spent every last penny I had from my families savings and still the debt remained there weighing heavy own my shoulders to the point where I felt like I was suffocating. But I never gave up and I am still trying to reach my goals regardless of the limitations. I know study Cinematography full time at the Filmuni Babelsberg, and it’s going really great, but it takes all fo my time since I am having seminars every day of the week along with assignments and film projects that I have on the side. I can’† get any state funding or scholarships because most of them require that I have a permeant resident in German which I don’t have. And I am trying everything I can to make it through this crisis and I can use all the help I can get. I know I can make it through, it's just that I cannot do it alone.

Experience:

Over the past few years I worked in many film and theater productions, along with working as a skateboarding teacher with several skateboarding NGOs in Palestine. Skateboarding gave me the confidence and strength to push through some of the most difficult times, and it has connected me to a worldwide community that helped feel welcomed and understood wherever I go. I also particpated in many skateboarding films that helped bring global attention to the growing skateboarding scene in Palestine.

Here is a list of projects that I participated in over the past few years

* My first short film

*SABABA a short documentary that tells my story in greater detail 

*Epicly Palestine‘d talks about the birth of skateboarding in the West Bank 

*A skate play is an experimental theater project

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Please share this with your friends and donate if you can,

Sincerely,

Abdullah Milhem