This document outlines a crowdfunding campaign to raise £23,513 to support Rana Alshamsi, a 21-year-old graduate from Gaza accepted to a MA program at SOAS but unable to afford tuition and living costs. The funds will allow Rana to enroll in September 2015, as she received a deferred admission due to conflicts preventing her from completing her application. The crowdfunding is necessary as Rana did not receive a scholarship that would have fully funded her studies.

1. Dear all,
We have established a crowdfund to support, Rana Alshamsi, a 21 year old
graduate from the Department of English (BA English Literature), The Islamic
University of Gaza (1). Rana has been accepted onto the full-time MA in
International and Comparative Legal Studies programme at SOAS, University of
London for late September 2014. (2). If she is unable to raise funds for her
studies in time for this year, she also has been offered a deferred place for
September 2015 by SOAS due to the recent war situation in Gaza and personal
circumstances. The conflict also prevented her from sitting her required English
language paper in July as intended, as all centres were closed. (3).
Unfortunately, she failed to receive the The Cultures of Resistance Scholarship,
which provides £24,000 to support international students from impoverished
backgrounds (4). Thus, we are attempting to raise a grand total of £23,513,
independently, in time for Rana to commence her deferred programme in
September 2015. The funds must be raised immediately, giving Rana
sufficient time to complete her IELTS English assessment (as per SOAS
requirements) and deal with subsequent visa contingencies, [as well as the
potential problems for Gazan citizens at the Rafah border crossing]. The funds
will be collected in two stages (tuition and maintenance), as outlined in the
questions and answers segment. Again, there is quite limited time to raise this
amount in order for her to start her degree this year, hence SOAS has agreed to
defer her place if required.
SOAS, Hani Qaddumi Scholarship Foundation (HQSF), Hoping Foundation (Lizzie
Leigh, Hoping Co-ordinator) and The Said Foundation (Ita Gallagher, Scholarships
Officer) were unable to host a third-party account, on Rana’s behalf, in such short
notice (5). Thus, we are hosting an independent savings account for donations
via IndieGoGo – an international crowd-funding platform.
We acknowledge the responsibility that is attached to this initiative and have
been endorsed by members of the charity sector; student union and committee
members of British universities to complete it sincerely (6).
We sincerely hope this initiative receives financial support with the hope of
providing world-class education to a very capable student overseas,
Yours Sincerely,
ABIR QAZILBASH
Founder of Right to Education Programme, LSE
LSE Model United Nations Officer
Year 3 UG, BSc International Relations, London School of Economics
HARUN KHAN
Right to Education Programme Committee
Head of Schools & Colleges, Charity Week London (2014)
Year 4 UG, Imperial College School of Medicine

2. SAMIHA BEGUM
Senior Director and Head of Funding, Right to Education Programme, LSE
Year 2 UG, BSc Social Policy, LSE
HEBA AL-NASSER
London Chevening Scholarship Ambassador
Scholarship Officer, Right to Education Programme
MSc Social Policy and Development, LSE
FAQ
Q: How was the total calculated?
A:
 i) Tuition Fees = £16, 425
Tuition fees amount to £16, 425 including a compulsory £350 pre-sessional
fee (7)
 Thesis and assignment grant (payable upon production of receipts when
dissertation/project has been submitted): £373.59 (8)
 Accommodation – £0.00 (Rana has confirmed, free accommodation with a
family in Kent, UK)
ii) Maintenance and Travel = £7088
 Travel - £600 for travel to and from UK.
 Food and Other Essential Costs – £2860 (9)
 Domestic Travel - £1028 (9)
 Personal - £2600
 Tier 4 Student Visa Application - £310 (10)
Note: We plan to fundraise the £16, 425 fixed tuition fee initially as evidence
of sufficient funding is required for her Visa application. We hope to do this
within 60 days. Once this has been achieved, we will start the next phase of
raising the Maintenance and Travel costs, again with the same intended duration
of 60 days.
Q: What will happen if the grand total is not achieved in time for Rana to
commence this academic year?
A: Fundraising will continue until August 2015, so we can financially support
Rana’s deferred place for September 2015 entry (both tuition and maintenance)
(3)
Q: What will happen if the grand total is not achieved by August 31st 2015?
A: Hopefully this will not be the case, as previous students from Gaza who have
used crowdfunding, have managed to raise similar amounts in less time than a

3. year. 1However, if this is not possible, we will try and push for a further deferral.
If this is declined, then the money will contribute towards funding another
underprivileged student from Gaza/ Kashmir (as both are occupied conflict
zones) who cannot afford to study abroad. There is always an instance of at least
one such student at UK universities every year, from Gaza alone. But ultimately,
we will do all we can to help Rana achieve her goals, and this is a very last resort.
Q: What happens if the grand total is overestimated and/or Rana secures a
scholarship next year?
A: If Rana reapplies and gets a scholarship next year which is fully funded (i.e.
tuition and maintenance), then the money will contribute towards funding
another underprivileged student in a similar position (as above). Evidence of this
will be confirmed on our Crowdfunding and Facebook pages to update all
donors. Our estimates are based on verified and average figures, but if any actual
costs are less, then the surplus would contribute towards helping other students.
Q: Are there any commissions from the fundraising site?
IndieGoGo charges a 4% commission charge for successful fundraisers, but no
additional fees. Most sites have a commission fee alongside further extra fees -
for example, the popular site JustGiving has higher commission rate than
IndieGoGo as well as additional fees. As above, charities such as Hoping were not
able to provide a bank account as it complicates their due diligence. Hence
IndieGoGo was the best option as we are not able to use a registered charity
name for our funds and our time to raise is limited (it takes about 30 days to
register a charity alone).
Q: What will happen if Rana is unable to leave her place of residence due to
the political instability of the region?
A: In the past, some students from Gaza who have come to UK universities
(including SOAS, LSE and Sheffield) have faced issues of being delayed at the
Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing. They have all eventually managed to come to the UK
in spite of this, to our full existing knowledge. This is often achieved through
liaising with the British Consulate for the Occupied Territories and/or through
the University and/or the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). We would set
up a campaign in this instance.2 Doing this in itself, would raise crucial
awareness of the restricted access to education for Gazans.
References
(1) The authors have access to an electronic copy of the transcript from the
Islamic University of Gaza provided to SOAS postgraduate admissions portal
(2) Evidence for official letter
(3) Evidence for official deferral letter (Contact Harun or Abir)
(4) http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/scholarships/the-cultures-of-resistance-scholarships.
html
1 E.g. another Gazan student with similar issue at SOAS with her Masters’ Offer
last year, managed to Crowdfund her tuition fees and part of her maintenance
grant, in a month (starting 30th July 2013).
2 A former campaign for a similar context:
http://letothmanstudy.wordpress.com/

4. (5) Contact education@saidfoundation.org; hoping@hopingfoundation.org for
confirmation
(6) Endorsements letter
(7) https://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/fees/postgraduate/
(8) Rate by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed from
01/10/14 (2014/15) – document can be provided upon request
(9) http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/studentfinance/livingcosts
(10) https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa