2 times a year Assyrians Without Borders grant 6 students scholarships for their forthcoming semester. This semester (spring 2017) some students have received a scholarship for the first time whilst some of them have received at least one before. Either way we are pleased to help Assyrian (also known as Syriacs and Chaldeans) students with their educational journey, whether if it´s in the beginning or the end of it. In both cases Assyrians Without Borders has been instrumental for the students´ education thanks to its generous donors. Below is a short presentation of the 6 students that received a scholarship for spring 2017.
Left to right in picture: Simon Saglamoglu, Sascha Dawid, Benjamin Töre and Meri Saglamoglu. Yakob Eramia and Ilknur Pazlanmaz not in picture.
Simon Saglamoglu, originally from Mardin, is a master´s degree student at Istanbul Technical University where he is studying Art History. After his studies, his goals are to work in architecture, be a university lecturer and spread knowledge to the world about Assyrians and their stories!
Sacha Dawid is currently studying Computer Communication Engineering in Lebanon, at Notre Dame University Louaize. She hopes to one day work at Ericsson where she also had an internship last summer. In her spare time she is very much involved in the Assyrian community of Lebanon, as for instance the Assyrian Youth of Lebanon. Sascha has only two semesters left of her engineering programme.
Benjamin Töre is currently studying International Trade and Logistic Administration at the Eskisehir Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey. He has three years left of his current studies. Before he began his current studies Benjamin studied in the monastery of St. Gabriel. Benjamin´s ambition is to educate himself and thereafter stay in Turabdin where he wants to encourage Assyrians to stay in their homeland. He wants to make the young Assyrian population aware of their national identity and to make them care for their Assyrian language and cultural heritage.
Meri Saglamoglu wishes, through her studies in Child Development at Istanbul Aydin University, to specialize in speech therapy for children. She also had an internship at a rehabilitation center that worked with children with autism and mental deficiency, to better her knowledge on the subject. This is Meri´s last semester which she will spend at an internship in a clinic that is specialized at the subject she wants to specialize in, namely speech therapy for children. After this semester Meri is determined to enter a master´s degree programme. On her spare time she likes to spend her time on cinema, music and literature.
Yakob Eramia is from Iraq and is studying at the Salahaddin University in Erbil. He is currently studying Assyrian language. Although his dream is to research about the Assyrian language on a higher level, he wants at first to move back to Nahla and teach the Assyrian language to children when he has finished his studies. Unfortunately Yakob and his family have been greatly affected by the current situation in Iraq, this scholarship, and the financial means that comes with it, is therefore very important for his studies.
Ilknur Pazlanmaz has 2 years left of her master´s degree in social studies at the Marmara University in Istanbul. After her studies she wants to become a movie director and produce films about religion, culture and history.
Assyrians Without Borders wishes all students the best of luck with their studies!
Next application period starts in the beginning of August 2017. More information will be published on our website and Facebook page.