My name is Mariele Ventrice and I live in Boston, Massachusetts. I'm raising funds to help my friend's daughter, Nadia*, a Palestinian girl from Gaza, start her journey to university. Please read her story and give what you can! The money will be transferred directly to her mother's bank account.

*A note from Nadia*

My mom took this picture of me back at our home in Gaza, on the porch in our apartment, which got the most sunlight during long hours of power cuts. This became my study spot. I would place my books there and work through heavy homework.

This place always reminded me of the saying, “العلم نور” — knowledge is light.

Sometimes, I would do homework outside at a small table where my grandpa would sit with me and work under the guava tree to make sure I finished my schoolwork. I am telling you, education is no joke here. From him, I learned an important lesson: never waste time. Education is serious...it shapes who we become.

I never imagined that I would finish my high school education in America. Or that I’d be writing this today. But education has given me the ability to be seen and understood.

The balcony no longer exists, and all my other favorite places in Gaza have been destroyed, too. But I’m looking forward to going to college in America to turn the dreams I had for myself into a reality.

*More about Nadia’s story*

Nadia, is a 17-year-old senior set to graduate with honors from high school this spring. Like many kids her age, she is excited to start college next year and has already been accepted to the University of Colorado to pursue a double major in finance and environmental engineering. But she needs our help to make this dream a reality.

Nadia's high school experience has been anything but typical. Nadia started high school in Gaza, Palestine, before moving to the U.S. with her younger sister and parents in 2022, while her mother (my friend) pursued an educational opportunity. While Nadia was sad to be apart from her friends and was nervous about sharpening her English skills and adapting to the culture of an American high school, she embraced her new community and studied relentlessly. She soon grew more confident speaking in class and developed friendships with a few of her classmates.

Then, in 2023, just a year after Nadia and her family arrived in the U.S., her home in Gaza, which has been under debilitating military blockade since 2006, became the target of the genocidal military campaign against Palestinians. Nadia watched the apartment where she lived, the schools she once attended, and the neighborhood she grew up in be destroyed live via messages from her friends, television, and social media. Her friends and family members—including her family in Gaza—were displaced many times, struggling to find food and water.

Throughout all this, Nadia continued to keep up her grades. She spent full evenings studying U.S. history and doing her math homework, then would stay up late into the night to check in with her friends in Gaza before getting a bit of sleep and walking to school the next morning.

Now as Nadia approaches her graduation, she’s faced with a new challenge: paying for her college education to start the next chapter of her life. While many of us are familiar with this hurdle, few of us have experienced circumstances like the ones Nadia and her family have been through.

Nadia’s mother and father have done everything they can to support their two girls in the most difficult of circumstances. They have managed to save some money for Nadia's in-state tuition, but they still need quite a bit more to fill the gap and ensure that Nadia can continue her education.

Nadia’s opportunity to attend university in the U.S. is a beacon of hope for her entire family. Let’s be part of that hope and make Nadia's college dream a reality.

Please support the education of a bright, passionate, and driven Palestinian girl by donating whatever you can to help me raise money for Nadia's college education this fall.

P.S. Please consider donating more than once between now and the fall if you can!

*Name changed for anonymity.

If you would like more information about the family and their story, please send me a message!