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Spring Up Foundation, Occupied West Bank, Palestine
In the Occupied West Bank, many families struggle to support their young people through higher education. Mandala Trust partnered with the charity Spring Up Foundation to fund partial scholarships to help Palestinian students complete their university or further education course.
Palestinians value education deeply. It helps widen perspectives, and creates new opportunities. But most importantly, education offers hope to young people who can feel very dispirited in the face of their people’s ongoing struggle for peace and equal rights. As one student put it: ‘When you are educated you defend your country in a non-violent way.’
Life under military occupation affects Palestinians on every level. It is extremely difficult for parents to pay for their children to go to university because of badly paid or insecure jobs or unemployment, and the many other stresses of daily life under occupation. Many students have to drop out before their studies are complete because there just isn’t enough money to continue paying the fees.
Mandala Trust partnered with Spring Up Foundation to help young people in the Occupied West Bank attend university or access vocational training, by granting partial further education scholarships. Applications are welcomed from young people living in or with family connections to Deir Istya, a village in the northern West Bank. Priority is given to students from lower income families and those who would be the first (or first of their gender) in their family to attend university.