Students from Education City have been raising funds for Gaza through the charity campaign Elevate To Educate, which includes climbing Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro over Eid break. The Elevate to Educate campaign was organized by Reach Out To Asia to raise funds from the climb for schools in Gaza.

“I am very overwhelmed. I honestly have no idea what I have gotten myself into,” said Yazan Abughaida, a junior communications student at Northwestern University in Qatar who is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. “But I am excited because I know that once I get to the top, I am going to be so happy that I did this.”

Abughaida, is the only non-Qatari among the group of 12 people climbing the mountain, which is the highest peak in Africa. He joined the charity campaign two weeks before the group was set to climb the mountain. He had to raise QR 50,000 in those two weeks in order to be eligible to climb.

Though every participant was initially tasked with raising QR 50,000 each, some climbers exceeded their mark. Dana Al-Anzy, a sophomore at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar, raised more than QR 200,000 in her fundraising efforts.

“When you have such a strict deadline [for fund-raising], it really challenges you to be creative,” said Abughaida.

Abughaida collaborated with two NU-Q clubs, the NU-Q Music Society and the Purple Project, to organize a charity sing-along event called Songs for Gaza to raise money. The event took place on Sunday, Sept. 28 at the NU-Q Studio, and it attracted people from across and even outside EC to come and perform at the event.

“The event gave me the opportunity to donate for such an incredible cause and makes me feel that I might actually make a difference for the children of Gaza,” said Samaia Samara, an NU-Q student who attended the event.

According to participants, the fund-raising was not easy. “It’s a challenge and is a lot about time-management,” said Al-Anzy. “You’ve to advocate for fund-raising along with managing school and academics.”

“The first thing that I learned about fund raising is that it’s a lot about putting yourself out there, using all forms of social media. You can’t just depend on two-three people in your social circle,” added Abughaida.

The group left for Mount Kilimanjaro on October 2 and returns on October 12. Donations will be accepted until the group returns.