Support Fouad's Dream of University Education

Hi, my name is Robert Kubinec, and I'm an assistant professor of political science at the University of South Carolina. I'm also a volunteer who works with Syrian refugees in South Carolina. I'm hosting this fundraiser on behalf of a smart, hard-working Syrian father I've gotten to know over the past year & who has become a close friend. This fundraiser is to help pay for full-time language study so he can achieve a high level of fluency and proceed on to a university degree program. If he can achieve these goals (even just the English program), it would be life-changing for him and his family.

Given the escalation in attacks on immigrants, I won't share details that could identify my Syrian friend. For the sake of this post, we'll call him Fouad. (If you need further validation, please see my contact info at my website here: https://www.robertkubinec.com/ ). Fouad is a hard-working & intelligent father who also cares for his two ailing parents. His family escaped from northwest Syria as the war broke out, and then spent several years in Turkey until their refugee status was processed. Fouad left Syria before he could enroll in university, and he did not qualify for Turkish universities due to his legal status. As he told me, "It is my dream to study in university."

So how about we help make that dream come true? Right now Fouad has taken a step of courage by enrolling in full-time language study so that he can meet entry requirements for SC universities. He will probably need about 6 months of full-time study before he is ready to apply for university admission. The amount we are targeting ($4500) should cover his expenses for the first half of language study, so any additional funds we raise above that amount are much appreciated! Given that Fouad has limited opportunities to work while in school, we will also use funds to cover rent and other expenses for his family.

In case you are wondering, there are some scholarship opportunities for refugees--but only for university degrees. Fouad is on his own until he can qualify for university admission. Any gift will make a huge difference for him and his family!

Again, for security reasons, the picture above is not his family (although the family members are roughly similar ages).

Thank you for reading through this, and again, if you have any questions at all, please just ask me.