Help Sophia stay in NL and finish her education

ON THE BRINK OF LOSING HER VISA AND DEGREE FOR GOOD

 

Our dear friend Sophia will lose her visa and can’t finish her degree if she doesn’t pay her tuition fees in time! Due to both personal circumstances and university/governmental policy she has gotten into an extremely precarious situation and needs our help. Tuition fees for non-EU students are almost five times as high as for EU students. Additionally, non-EU students can only work 16 hours per week, if their employee is even willing to go through the paperwork to apply for a work permit, and even working full-time (next to a full-time study) wouldn’t cough up enough money for these tuition fees. Sophia’s family in India have become unable to financially support her due to the economic consequences of the pandemic in the country combined with some health issues faced by her parents. All of this on top of a very unstable housing situation (during the housing crisis in the Netherlands), has accumulated into such stress that it has affected her mental health a lot. Now, she is at risk of deportation if she can’t pay for her studies.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

 

We are friends of Sophia who have started a collective to fundraise money with cultural events such as film screenings, concerts, art auctions, yard sales etc, but that alone won’t help us reach our goal and so we must also rely on generous donations! Everyone deserves to live and study here and we can’t accept the unfair situation that Sophia has been put in. We would hate to see her be forced to leave the Netherlands and not even get a chance to complete the last year of her education.

How much do we need exactly? We have to reach:

2011,50 euro by 25.05.2022

4023 euro by 27.06.2022

6382,20 euro by 25.07.2022

10.947,20 euro by 25.08.2022

These dates are so specific because the university deducts money on those days. The money donated here goes directly to Sophia! It doesn't go through us or a third party first. 

 

 

ABOUT SOPHIA

Hi, my name is Sophia and for the past years I have been in the Netherlands in order to complete my degree: Literary Studies en Cultural Analysis. When I am not studying I like to read, craft and visit museums/parks and cinemas. I also like to volunteer for causes that I care about and so I am fairly involved in the same. This includes volunteer work for climate activism movements and for non-profit cultural organisations. In my time here, I have really enjoyed my studies and found it to be very fulfilling. I have been able to grow as a person from all the experiences the city has offered me and I have been lucky enough to find movements, places and especially people that I have come to care deeply about. When I first came here, I realised how fortunate I was to be able to have access to an education that many others from my country might not be able to have and how unjust the system can be. Unfortunately the pandemic and it’s aftermath has undermined my family’s ability to fund my education in it’s entirety and this is where my friends have come in. It has been so re-affirming to witness the kindness and efforts of my friends in recognising my struggles and in trying their best to help me finish my education. Despite the pandemic and encountering housing and mental health struggles, I very much value the life I have built here and the education that I wish to see through to it’s end. I would be so very grateful for any donations to help our cause succeed. Thank you for your time and kindness.

-Sophia.

PS: If you wish to contribute but don't have visa/paypal it is also possible to send a donation directly to Sophia. Send an email to [email redacted] or DM us on insta @fundthepainaway and we will give you the bank account details. Thank you! 

Here we have attached some of our favourite pictures with and of Sophia: