Dr. Nasir's words are prophetic. Palestine's future success as an independent nation is based on a highly educated and capable population. Future leaders must be educated and prepared now! United Palestinian Appeal has supported educating Palestinians for many years under its core mission of "building independence." However, students are facing increasingly more difficult challenges in pursuit of their education.
On a daily basis, Palestinian students face the physical barriers of roadblocks and checkpoints on their way to and from school. They face the physical challenges of deteriorating school buildings and under-supplied and under-equipped classrooms. Students in Palestine face the physical barriers of school buildings which have their water and electricity cut off on a regular basis. Students in the occupied territories live with the daily threat of curfews and school closings. Even under these extremely challenging conditions, Palestinian students have performed exceptionally well on all performance standards. From their very high literacy rate to their average daily attendance figures to their college admissions numbers to their percentage of scholars who earn post-graduate degrees – these statistics underscore how highly Palestinians value education.
We at UPA are very proud of our Child Sponsorship and University Scholarship Programs, which have supported Palestinians in pursuing their education – from pre-school to post-graduate studies. However, we must work harder and smarter to extend and expand our efforts. We have learned from our partners in Palestine that, in addition to tuition assistance, college students are in desperate need of a textbook stipend, a meal allowance, and transportation. We are working with our university partners to create systems within each of the universities for UPA scholarship recipients to receive the awarded stipends and allowances. In addition, we are working with one of our partners to develop transportation grids that would include minivans to help with their mobility. These are ambitious plans. But, with your support these plans are within reach.
Finally, UPA will be working with one of our partners, in collaboration with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, to conduct leadership training for students who have successfully completed a nonviolence course based on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s principles of nonviolence. The leadership training will build on the principles of nonviolence to include community development, activism, resource identification and grant writing. The participants will develop projects within and for their communities. Educating Palestinian youth in active nonviolence and leadership is foundational to an independent Palestine.
We are very optimistic about these plans. Your support of United Palestinian Appeal is vital to keeping hope alive for a bright future for Palestine, built on a highly educated population. I urge you to do all you can to support these efforts. When all else appears bleak, learning is sometimes the only oasis for Palestinians.
Thanking you,
Ghassan Tarazi
Executive Director
