In April 2024, Professor Zahid Pranjol began offering voluntary academic support to students in Gaza, helping them to continue learning despite the difficult circumstances. As needs grew and the scope of the work widened, these efforts developed into a student-led, community-based initiative named We Are Still Here | Baqoun. It began with the aim of helping students to continue their education, and has since broadened to empower Palestinian young people and to strengthen their capacity for initiative, leadership and community participation.
To become a trusted and leading platform for supporting and empowering Palestinian university students: a space that gives them access to the resources, opportunities, knowledge and support they need to continue learning, develop their abilities, strengthen their participation and leadership, and fulfil their ambitions despite exceptional circumstances.
To support and empower Palestinian university students and to protect their right to education and development, through educational and training programmes, student support, scholarships and opportunities, cultural, literary and artistic initiatives, and academic and community partnerships, all designed around students' actual needs and direct experiences.
Treating every student as a rights-holder and an active participant in their community.
Designing programmes and decisions on the basis of students' needs and experiences.
Moving beyond direct support to build knowledge, skills and leadership.
A commitment to accuracy, transparency and responsibility for decisions and resources.
Building a connected network of students, volunteers, academics, institutions and partners.
Adapting our working methods to changing and exceptional circumstances.
Involving the field team and stakeholders in developing programmes and decisions.
For university students whose studies have been affected by current circumstances, the programme strengthens their use of English in academic, professional and everyday communication. It is delivered through weekly online sessions led by English-speaking volunteers and trainers, is ongoing, and has so far benefited dozens of students.
A programme for university students across a range of disciplines, delivered through courses taught by academics, university lecturers and trainers from inside and outside Gaza. Each lecturer decides the duration and content of their course to suit their field. Admission normally follows these stages: announcement of the course, applications and screening, interviews, and selection on the basis of seriousness, need and suitability, followed by teaching, attendance monitoring and evaluation.
Financial assistance for students facing exceptional needs, awarded after an assessment of each student's circumstances. Cases are managed and documented by the field team in Gaza in coordination with the initiative's leadership, with direct oversight by Professor Zahid Pranjol for major financial decisions. To date, the initiative has handled hundreds of cases.
Spaces for students to express their experiences, produce literary and artistic work, and share their voices with a wider audience. These efforts include two books published by Daraja Press, an exhibition at Gallery North, and cultural events that have reached an international audience in the United Kingdom.
Continuous coordination between areas ensures that decisions and programmes remain tied to students' actual needs.
The initiative has an informal relationship of academic and community cooperation with the University of Sussex, and its literary and artistic projects have been linked to a number of cultural and academic institutions and spaces.
