Books Not Bombs Fellowship is one way to support the right to education.

We’re creating a fund that any displaced college student can apply to for financial help to stay in school.

By Shiyam Galyon

There is no emergency fund that exists to help displaced students stay in school — so we decided to create one.

Books Not Bombs is creating a scholarship fund to address “gap needs” available to all displaced students. The Books Not Bombs Fellowship is a new fund that will help displaced students cover gap expenses associated with higher education, including registration and exam fees, school supplies and living expenses. To be eligible, a student must have been displaced from conflict and currently be enrolled in a higher education program anywhere in the world.

This means we can support displaced students from conflict in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and beyond.

And the best part? You can be apart of this first-of-its-kind fund by hosting a dinner.

Here’s how it works: send me an email at shiyam@books-not-bombs.com with the subject line “I want to host a dinner.” In the email, include when and where you’d like to host. I’ll get you set up with a donation page specific to your event on Karam Foundation’s web site, where your guests can purchase tax-deductible tickets for your dinner.

100% of ticket sales will go directly into the fund.

As the host, you decide on all the details — location, theme, menu, and fundraising goal. If you would like to invite local refugee guests to your dinner, let me know and I’ll try my best to connect you with people in your area.

We hope you’ll join us in hosting a dinner because, as BNB student organizer Iman Siddiqi says: “The right to education should not be contingent on where you are from.”