Ashour is Among Lucky Few to Escape Gaza Isolation 
to Pursue College Education
 
Columbia College and The Hope Fund announced today that Mariam Ashour, a young Palestinian student, will begin studies at the college after a suspense-filled journey which took her from a Gaza refugee camp to the women’s leadership college in Columbia, SC.
 
“Mariam’s Hope Fund scholarship is a lifeline to a better future, away from violence and uncertainty inGaza’s refugee camps,” said Dr. Fahim Qubain, president of The Hope Fund. “Columbia College has played a significant leadership role in getting Mariam here, and we are very thankful to Dr. Whitson. Without her involvement and unwavering commitment, this would not have been possible for Mariam.”
 
The plight of Ashour and hundreds of hopeful, bright Palestinian students stranded in refugee camps received worldwide attention last fall with media reports from BBC, CNN and the New York Times. For more than a year, she has been ready to cross the Israeli border at a moment’s notice to begin her journey toward a dream, to study at Columbia College in South Carolina.
 
Since she was first selected by the Hope Fund scholarship program, Gaza-Israel border tensions escalated with hostility on both sides. As another semester deadline came and passed in January, those involved in Mariam’s case had nearly given up hope. On Wednesday, April 9, Columbia College was notified that Ashour finally succeeded in crossing the Gaza border into Israel. Upon arrival in the United States, Ashour was greeted by Hope Fund staff in Virginia, and the final leg of her odyssey brings her to Columbia. Ashour will settle into a new campus life where women’s leadership development is infused into the curriculum of a diverse student population of approximately 1,000 students.
 
Dr. Caroline Whitson, president of Columbia College, recalled recent discussions about choosing a student from another refugee area where travel was less restricted, but: “After seeing Mariam in the CNN broadcast, I felt connected to her.  I didn’t feel as though we should abandon her just when things were darkest,” Whitson said. “We are a women’s leadership college and have accepted the responsibility of providing that leadership externally as well as internally to our students. This was simply something we needed to do.”
 
Now, college officials look forward to admitting Ashour for Fall 08 semester, and she may begin classes as soon as summer session.
 
Columbia College is a private liberal arts women's college related to the United Methodist Church with a legacy of developing women leaders possessing the courage, commitment, confidence and competence to build a better world. In addition to the Women’s College, coeducational evening and graduate programs are offered. Enrollment is 1500 students from 23 states and 20 countries. Columbia College is also home to the Leadership Institute and the Alliance for Women, a network of colleges, universities, government agencies, non-profit organizations, corporations, and individuals dedicated to working together to bring about positive changes that will improve the lives of all South Carolinians. For more information about Columbia College visit www.columbiacollegesc.edu.
 
The Hope Fund, in partnership with several U.S. colleges, provides scholarships to academically gifted students of Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Young war-weary Palestinians live in a bleak reality of few jobs, rare access to higher education, and extreme poverty.  Students chosen from Gaza present a special challenge because of border tensions with Israel, making it almost impossible for students from refugee camps to leave Gaza.
 
According to Dr. Qubain, more than 3 million dollars in full scholarships have been donated by U.S.colleges directly to students sponsored by the Hope Fund.  As of November 2007 there were 14 scholarship students in the Hope Fund program. If all goes well, in addition to Mariam, six more students will arrive  in late August for
enrollment on full scholarships at various US colleges in the Fall semester.  The Hope Fund spends about $2,500 a year on each student for health insurance, travel expenses, U.S. visa fees, and books. They select from among the most gifted eligible students and process all the college application papers. It usually takes at least 6 months from the time a student is selected to deliver him or her to the college concerned. For more information about the Hope Fund please visit www.thehopefund.org.
 
 
View these links for more about Mariam Ashour:
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/396826.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/middleeast/10gaza.html
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/11/02/wedeman.stuck.in.gaza.cnn 
 
For more information or to arrange interviews, contact:

Rebecca B. Munnerlyn
Executive Director of Public Relations