According to NBC News, there were 88,000 college students in Gaza when the war broke out in October 2023. The students’ lives were upended. Shyama was one of those students.
Islamic University of Gaza Campus Destroyed
Shyama was a third-year student at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), an internationally recognized institution with 18,000 students. Her home, near the occupied border, was bombed at the start of the war and she and her family were forced to evacuate; Shyama fled with a single bag containing her computer and a change of clothes. Over the next several months, she and her family were displaced ten times, constantly moving in search of safety. On October 10th, her university’s campus was bombed. The president and many faculty and staff were killed and those who survived were scattered all over. IUG was forced to cease operations.
Shyama Continues Her Studies At The University of the People
Despite the devastation, Shyama was determined to continue her studies; through a friend, she discovered the University of the People (UoPeople). UoPeople is a tuition-free, online University with more than 150,000 students from around the world. It teaches in both English and Arabic and is regionally accredited in the United States. The University had 17 students from Gaza enrolled prior to the war and currently has nine students enrolled, including Shyama. “Doing something like going to school gives you purpose; it makes you feel like you are moving on with your life,” she explains. Because she could not get a transcript from the devastated IUG, she has been taking courses that are repeats of many she had taken before. She still finds them rewarding and somewhat different from her IUG courses.
Despite the unimaginable challenges, she has remained disciplined and determined to continue her studies. With electricity scarce, she relies on solar panels to charge her laptop and phone. Studying at night remains difficult due to limited power and weak internet access. It can take up to three hours to download study materials when she finds internet connections. Even simple tasks, such as printing documents, are often impossible. We began our conversations on the phone when she had a cell signal. When our phone connection was repeatedly broken, we had to continue the conversation via email over several days as it often took Shyama a while to find an internet connection. For six months, Shyama studied in a crowded tent filled with children and constant noise. Hers was far from an ideal learning environment, yet she remained grateful for the opportunity to resume her education as she said it gave order and purpose to her life. Eventually, she discovered a workspace in Gaza called Taqat, equipped with internet and solar-powered electricity. “I volunteered at Taqat and now work there as a Project Manager for software projects with a team of freelance developers. The journey from struggling to find a quiet place with electricity and internet to becoming a project manager while pursuing my studies at both IUG and UoPeople has been nothing short of transformative.” IUG has gone back online teaching remotely with its faculty spread out all over the world and Shyama is now studying at both IUG and UoPeople.
When she and her family finally returned to their village, they found their home and neighborhood completely destroyed. They now reside in an uncle’s house that was partially damaged and are waiting for heavy machinery to clear the rubble so they can begin rebuilding. In the meantime, many in the area have constructed makeshift encampments where tents and plastic sheets provide the only semblance of shelter.
Shyama has continued to study under the most challenging circumstances and hopes to graduate from IUG in the fall of 2025 with an engineering degree. Amidst the chaos of displacement and survival, education has been a beacon of constancy for her. Her ability to balance education, work and survival under such dire circumstances is a testament to her strength. Her journey is one of unbreakable spirit and resilience. Her pursuit of education, despite displacement and destruction, reflects the profound importance of learning as a means of survival and hope. Her story is a powerful reminder that even in the darkest times, humanity’s will to persevere remains unyielding. Living in a war-torn region and constantly on the move, Shyama clings to her education as a source of stability, overcoming unimaginable challenges to continue learning and looking to her future.
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