I would like to raise funds to support a talented person to complete the final year of his university education. 

I met him first through my humanitarian work with refugees. In this profession we help thousands of people, and we rarely have the chance to follow their lives over a longer period of time. However, even after finishing my job in Hungary, after many years of contact, conversations and sharing views about many things, I might say – he became a friend. 
 
With your generous help, hopefully we can support him with at least €5000 to cover the tuition fee for his last two semesters and any donation above that could contribute to his academic, housing and living expenses in the coming school year. 
 
Please forgive me that I can not disclose his identity for his protection, however, he gave me his consent to start this crowdfunding in the hope he can complete his ongoing studies in Europe. 
 
He arrived in Europe as an unaccompanied child seeking asylum many years ago. He was born to parents who fled their home country, Afghanistan decades ago as they belonged to an ethnic minority targeted by the Taliban, and they settled in Pakistan. However, Pakistan does not have a formal system for granting refugee status, and for him this meant that, by birth, he became stateless, without the rights a citizen could access. His family decided to send their precious son to Europe for his survival and in the hope of a more normalized life. 
 
He faced many difficulties during his journey but finally he arrived in Hungary where the government is cruel and unwelcoming to most refugees in many ways. As a child, he did not have many options but stayed. Not giving up, he started to fight in his own way – he learned a very difficult language and he went through an education system new for him. He remained determined; he managed to complete high school and all along those school years, he worked in a restaurant to sustain himself financially and to send home some money to support his family. 
 
He was very eager to continue his studies and he was interested in Economics, International Affairs, and Philosophy. He wanted to pursue his higher education in English and to earn a scholarship, and he kept applying while he worked in a restaurant. Finally, he got accepted to a highly reputed private and non-profit college in Germany with a full scholarship. 
 
He became very active in student life; he could also develop his passion for photography and even got an opportunity to go to the US for a summer course. He also worked at the dormitory in a support role to help other students. After four years he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with excellent results. 
 
He was very inspired to go on with his studies. Every time we met, we had great conversations about philosophy, politics and happenings around the world and I often thought what a wide and great knowledge he has. He is also a fighter of many causes like human rights, gender equality, LGBTQ+ community or peace. 
 
He was looking for a university for his MA degree and got admission to a great independent university, which he thought would give him adequate knowledge in the areas he was engaged in. However, he could not get a full scholarship this time, he received only 75% of the tuition fees, and he did not get into the dormitory. He applied for a stipend from another organization which provided him some funds for accommodation which is crucial, considering he lives in a city with exorbitant housing prices. As a student, he is allowed to work only part-time by law, but this is not enough and he can hardly cover his costs. He also continued to make some income through photography. His photos cover all aspects of life from street photography, architecture, events and portraits to protests for human rights; I attached in this fundraiser page some of his photos. 
 
Unfortunately, especially for a refugee, life is not as predictable. He got some news a year ago that his mother became hospitalized and although he could not go home, he sent a large part of his savings to his mother to cover the hospital bills. Those were his savings that could cover the remaining tuition fees. Last summer I lost contact with him for a few months and I got really worried. I finally got in touch with him and I learned that he had to cope with some serious challenges in his life. After completing the BA studies, he lost his former college accommodation and without a home, he relied on sleeping at friends’ places or wherever he could. This had a strong impact on his mental wellbeing but he continued to work, he managed to get some loans and finally he could rent a room for himself and completed his enrollment for the MA studies. When he felt better, he started to reply to my messages. He is the type of person who always tries to work out solutions himself first and reach out to others for help only as a last resort. I really admire him for his resilience, for never giving up. 
 
By June 2025, he managed to complete the first year of the International Affairs MA studies and chose a major in International Security. However, he still struggles financially and he would need more time to earn money to cover his second year. He planned to take a gap year from the university and apply for a research assistant position, but unfortunately having a gap year was not allowed by the organization that supports him with covering the 75% tuition fee; they insisted that he should complete the two years of MA studies without interruption. If he does not comply with that, he will lose the scholarship. These systems just cannot understand how different life is when you are all alone and also have responsibilities for your elderly parents. Anyhow, he has no other choice but to stay enrolled and he still needs some additional financial support to make things work. 
 
The world needs such skilled and educated professionals, especially with diverse backgrounds from different countries, cultures, views and understanding. These young talented people are an invaluable investment and asset to the future, especially in a world that is going through chaos from time to time. 
 
Your donation will help this young man in his journey of expanding his knowledge and views and fulfilling his aspirations. 
 
Even if you cannot contribute financially, please consider sharing his story with others who might be able to donate. 
 
Thank you for your kindness and support! 
 
[Should you kindly donate and wish to know some more about him, please let me know your email address and I will forward it to him. He would be more than happy to share his Instagram / photographs with you if you are interested to see them. I used his photos for this fundraiser.]

Anonymous

Peter Hofman

Gerco van der Linden

Valerie Cannon

Catherine Brown

Mate Bagossy

Natalie Payne

Bruce Trigg

Laura Gonzalez Bosc

Philipp von Zwehl

Support a Young Refugee Complete His University Education

Support a Young Refugee Complete His University Education

Still €5,248 to go. Help us build momentum.