Academic Tuition for Odeya

Odeya grew up in an unstable, chaotic, violent household. Her parents spent years fighting before they divorced; Odeya says that her father hit the children as an outlet for their own anger. Her brothers hit her frequently as well.

She reports that the relationship between the nine siblings was poor, with little communication among them. This was particularly unfortunate, because their father refused to send the children to school or to let them play with other kids in the neighborhood, as he worried that they might influence his children away from his extreme religious beliefs.

Odeya and her siblings grew up without friends, and with a strong sense that it was wrong to open up to anyone or to let anyone know about what happened within the family. Despite her limited education, Odeya wanted to complete her National Exams. She enrolled in a program through which she did so, despite her parents’ strong objections. Odeya then started college to earn a degree in special education. She funded part of her studies through a program in which she lived as aid to an elderly woman, and supplemented that with cleaning houses, and with her savings.

Now toward the end of her degree, she is running out of money. Odeya has worked hard to get this far, and completing her education means more to her than anything. It would be devastating to her to have to stop now that she is this close to earning her degree.