Mona comes from a family of 8, all of whom are supported by her father. Mona’s father is a street vendor and thus  he earns an irregular daily income. Determined to study Pharmacy at Birzeit University, she worked really hard during her secondary education years to get admitted into her program of choice. When her dream started materializing, her excitement was mixed with guilt and uncertainty. In recollecting this phase of her life Mona told us:

“When my secondary school exam results were announced (96.8 overall) I realized the enormous burden I was placing on my father. He wouldn’t be able to afford sending me to a university.  Despite our unstable economic circumstances, my father borrowed money and went into debt to pay the university’s first installment, and while I felt like all of my hard work was finally paying off, my happiness was bittersweet. I knew that my father was extremely stressed out about his financial situation and the fact that he is indebted.

During my first year, I heard about WA’s scholarship opportunity, only then did I feel like there was a glimmer of hope that I could remove the burden off of my father’s back. I worked really hard and maintained an average of 80% during my first semester, I then applied for the scholarship and got it! I worked double as hard to make sure I could maintain the scholarship, and I got 82 percent during the 2^nd semester.”