Mike Tomlinson, who led this second annual visit to Cranleigh and who is a former member of Cranleigh School Common Room writes: “Maria is a Palestinian girl in the school who gets the best marks in the best class in the school, out-scoring pupils more naturally gifted than she. She was able to go on the trip because of a generous donation and those who heard her speak at Cranleigh School were moved to tears.

 

She does not live in the squalor of a camp but she does live as a permanent refugee with no rights or hope in this country and with no hope of returning to her own. A written version of Maria’s story can be read in the 2007 edition of ‘The Cranleighan’ which is published on 18th October. It is Maria’s situation that drives her to study so hard in the hope of finding a way out. One of the VIth Form girls at Cranleigh asked, very simply, ‘Is there nothing we can do?’

 

“Our dream is to help Maria study for a university degree in the UK. Her father would be able to pay some of the fees, and we would hope to get a grant to bring this up to about 50%, but then we will have to find the other half. However, that is not the first hurdle. If Maria has to pay living expenses as well then the costs will become too much. So we are looking for a family/ couple/single lady to adopt Maria for the duration of a 3-4 year degree in the UK.

 

Maria is a delightful girl, though a little shy. She is hard-working and has a sense of humour despite all she has endured. The basic requirements are.....that you have a spare room, don't mind preparing vegetarian food, live near a university, and can afford an extra mouth to feed....but most of all have a vision for adopting her into your home. If we find a host family, only then can we start to look at where we will find the remaining fees.”

 

 Mike is making this appeal through the Cranleigh Baptist Church, who hosted most of the Lebanese pupils on the 2006 and 2007 visits and here, through the Cranleigh Foundation. It is right that we should state that our hope to support Maria is not intended as taking one side in the complex situation in the Middle East, but a response inspired by a Christian charity which is at the foundation of the School’s ethos and which led Mike himself, supported by the Cranleigh Baptist Church, to train for his work in Lebanon. There follows a brief extract from Maria’s story as published in the forthcoming edition of ‘The Cranleighan’:

 

 ‘We were given blue cards, the card that always reminds me that I was born as a refugee, will live as a refugee and die as a refugee; I’ll never have a land of my own and I’ll never have the same rights that you have in England. For example, I, as a Palestinian living in Lebanon, can’t own houses or land and can’t even vote. There are more than 72 jobs that I can’t do just because I am a refugee.’

 

If anyone reading this feels able to support Maria, please contact the Foundation via this web-site.