Futuring Gaza: Help Medical Students Pay Tuition

Hello Friends,

If you’ve visited this page before, you might notice that things look a little different. Denver SDS has started partnering with Futuring Gaza, a small network of community organizers in Toronto who are fundraising for the same cause. We’ve updated our goal, and are hoping to reach new donors outside Denver. You can see the changes for yourself down below. Our website has changed, but the situation remains the same.

The Situation:

There are thousands of Palestinian students in Egypt who relied on their families to support them during their studies. As the Zionist aggression in Gaza has accelerated into a full-blown genocide, they have lost touch with their families and lost access to the financial support they need. Many have lost family members, including breadwinners, in the genocide. They are struggling to afford housing and tuition. When the IOF retreats, the skills and professions these students have acquired will be essential to rebuilding Gaza and supporting their families.

Most of these students are not Egyptian citizens and need to be enrolled in a university to keep their student visas. Without visas, they lose their right to remain in the country. As they cannot be deported, they are at constant risk of arrest and arbitrary imprisonment.

The Financial Roadblock:

Organizers in Egypt are working with these students to help them with housing, food and other necessities. However, the students’ tuition is set in U.S. dollars by universities because of the Egyptian pound’s instability. This same instability, and the high exchange rate, makes it much harder to fundraise for their tuition in Egypt than abroad.

How we’re Helping:

Denver SDS – a group of student organizers on Auraria campus – has committed to sponsoring two students all the way to graduation. Because of the near-total destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, we are focused on helping medical students graduate – specifically medical students at Zagazig university. The students we help will be critical to rebuilding Gaza’s healthcare system.

Tuition for these students can be paid from abroad. As we raise money, we’ll wire it directly to Zagazig University with the student’s name attached. The university will process the funds and accept them as payment for the indicated student’s tuition. We know this works – this is how many parents pay their child’s tuition, and Futuring Gaza members in Toronto have successfully paid the tuition of numerous students this way.

The Financial Breakdown:

At Zagazig University, each student’s tuition is $1500 per semester. Additionally, there are fees associated with international wire transfers which are close to $100. That means we need to fundraise at least $3200 ($1600 per student) every 6 months to meet our minimum goal of helping two students.

The current goal of $11,200 is based on an estimate that we have to pay for seven student-semesters. One of these will go towards a student who is just one semester away from graduation. The remaining six will be divided evenly between two students who have a longer way to go.

There are a couple things that may change our minimum goal for these two students: If they have more than 6 semesters left combined. Additionally, some students are allowed to remain in school even if they cannot pay tuition. However, when they are able to pay tuition they have to pay $1500 for the current semester, as well as a portion of their accrued debt.

Our partners in Egypt select the students our money will go to, and we will update the goal and this financial summary when we have more specific information.

Our Call to Fellow Students:

We, Students for a Democratic Society, stand in solidarity with all the people of Palestine. This is a unique opportunity for any student to do the same and support our peers who are struggling the most. All of us are working hard to pay for our education, and know the struggle of trying to make ends meet for now, while accruing more and more debt. Some of us are international students who worry every semester about their visas, financial aid, and all the other bureaucratic hurdles.

The students of Gaza face all of this and more. Their families are fighting for their lives. Some no longer have families.

Anything we can spare will make a huge difference in the lives of our fellow students.

To Members of the Community:

If you are reading this, you are horrified by what is happening in Gaza and looking for a way to help. You may have donated to other organizations trying to get aid into Gaza. You might be reading this thinking that, while sympathetic to our cause, your money would be better spent elsewhere.

The eyes of the world are rightfully focused on the Gaza strip, and on the atrocities that the IOF is committing every day. On getting aid to the sick, wounded or starving.

But in the flurry to get aid into Gaza, these students - these children of Gaza - have been left behind. This is your chance to help them.

To Community Organizers:

If you are an activist, organizer or union member, you can help amplify our reach and effectiveness in addition to making a donation yourself. If you or your organization is interested in helping us fundraise, reach out to us using the link on this page, under the "Organizer" heading. We would love to co-host events or discuss other ways to help Gazan students.

Sponsor A Student:

Helping the students of Gaza is an ongoing task, without a clear end in sight. Perhaps the greatest help you could offer is to pay a student’s entire tuition – either for a single semester, or on an ongoing basis. If you are able and willing to sponsor a student, please contact us using the link on this page underneath the "Organizer" heading.