Empower Lama & Yara to study and stay connected!

Hi everybody, we are Lama & Yara Elnajjar From Gaza, Palestine — members of the Palestinian National Programming Team. In 2023, we participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and were the youngest participants, at the ages of 15 and 16. As school students, we competed against major companies and managed to win the "Champion" award through public voting.

Lama & Yara headed to Switzerland for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), where their "Nabhani" application for the hearing-impaired won the Champions Award. 'Nabheni' helps deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals by translating critical sounds and alerts into notifications they can see or feel.

“Imagine a world where deaf people can walk confidently, knowing they will be alerted to danger, important sounds, or loved ones calling for them — all through a device on their wrist. This is not just about technology — it’s about freedom, safety, and inclusion. We can make this a reality.”

Suddenly, overnight, time stood still, and the landscape of life changed. The wheel of dreams came to a halt as war ravaged Gaza, plunging us into profound darkness.

“We spent 15 months displaced from our home and life in Gaza city. During the ceasefire, we were able to return to their beloved home - there was damage but thankfully it is there. Schools are destroyed and we spend our days studying at home for school exams best we can. “

Staying connected has been so important, and often they will walk 2 hours to get to a place that might have internet. Lama & Yara have big dreams and never lose hope or enthusiasm. But it’s hard and the setbacks are devastating.

Their lives, education and great work can be hugely empowered through support that helps them power their phones, have electricity, internet and have access to scarce basic life supplies. There are online schools which take a lot of work to apply to when you have no more school records or teachers.

Yara teaching Python: the coding app works on mobile phones, whilst most students do not have laptops.

Let’s help!

We hope everything continues to get better for them. Yara plans to study architecture engineering, and Lama plans to study AI Engineering and management. Whilst there is no solution to get their high school diploma officially, they continue studying online to be sure to fulfill their dreams.

Thank you so much.