Israa Hussein

"Girls for Life" is the story of a Canadian foundation established in 2011 by Dr. Ezz El-Din Abu El-Aish (Canadian Palestinian) in memory of his daughters (Bisan, Mayar and Aya) who were killed in Gaza following the Israeli raids in 2008. For girls from the Middle East, whether to study in Arab countries or through scholarships in America, Britain and Canada.

Hope of pain
"It was a promise to me, if my daughters were martyred, their message for peace must remain and reach the world and education is a right for everybody," says Ezzedine Abouleish, a professor of public health at the University of Toronto and director and founder of Girls for Life. Girl in the world. "

He added: "My pain on the martyrdom of my daughters is matched by hope that I see in every girl to whom our institution offers a scholarship which is in fact a grant for hope for a better future for these girls. Women have a great role in building society, and in order to strengthen this role must be given the opportunity to education To complement its humanitarian role in building society to the fullest. "

Dr. Ezz El Din Abou El Aish, owner of Girls for Life Foundation (Al Jazeera)

Mechanism for the selection of female students
Abu Al-Aish explains that these scholarships are offered to girls from the Middle East countries without any racial or religious discrimination. They are offered to girls who have difficult social and economic conditions that prevent their dreams from completing their studies. The Foundation announces these scholarships in many Arab countries and through Some institutions in the Arab countries and the Middle East and through the Foundation's website.

Students applying for the scholarship apply to universities with which the institution has agreements, and if they meet the requirements, you receive a full scholarship covering the expenses of study, accommodation, eating, ticket and all the expenses that the student needs during her study trip.

After studying the files of students wishing to receive the scholarship in cooperation with universities, are selected who meet the requirements, and then meet the student and her parents, because it is necessary to consent to the parents to travel to their daughters to study in Western countries.

Scholarships abroad
Aboul Eish points out that they have agreements with universities in Canada, America and Britain. They also have agreements with universities in Bangladesh. Now they are going to open an institution in Belgium to reach new agreements with European universities. They are also working on agreements with Mexican universities to allow Greater opportunities for girls to complete their studies.

Are two grants
He explained that the scholarships offered by the Foundation are of two types, the first is the grants within the countries of girls, where the girl is studying in her country and the institution covers the tuition fees, has benefited from these grants about 400 students from Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.

The second type is to study in countries other than the girl's homeland, and benefited from these grants about 50 girls, and the institution also covers the expenses of study and other expenses. He hopes the Arab countries will support them in order to increase the number of these grants.

Promise Hassan got a scholarship to study in America and Canada (Al Jazeera)

Ambition does not stop him circumstances
Despite the difficult circumstances surrounding Hassan's promise to be a Palestinian living in Lebanon, her ambition was greater than that and she intended to complete high school and earn high grades, qualifying her with other conditions to benefit from a scholarship from Girls for Life.

The student must have provided volunteer services, are active in her community and have difficult financial conditions, and must be from the Middle East countries, and eventually must return to her country after completing the study.

Waad told Al Jazeera Net, "I was looking for any institution offering scholarships to Palestinian students, and I knew through one of the centers in Lebanon this institution, and provided it and wrote the specialization I want, and I looked at existing universities that have agreements with the institution for the specialization that I want to study and provided him ".

Scholarship in America and Canada
"I went to America to study English literature at Manhattan College in 2015 and completed my bachelor's degree," she said. "I applied for a master's degree in Canada. Thank God I was accepted. Now I have completed my studies at Brook University in Canada."

Waad found that her choice to study in America and Canada, and her education there added to her personality a lot of experience, and that education for any girl is an important way to prove her existence and achieve her goals, not only for herself but for her community as well. They must not abandon their goal of completing their education. "