Asad the Architect

August 2021

This campaign is for me, Asad Koriya.

A dream chaser and determined architect in the making, on his quest to achieve great heights, literally.

Here is an excerpt from my recent podcast on African Astronauts. More parts of the episode are coming soon...

Greetings to one and all, as you can see, we began my GoFundMe journey back in September of 2018! We raised over 2K as shown above. I had gone home to Zimbabwe during Summer break to renew my passport and spend some time with my family. It had been 2 years that I was away. Unfortunately the dire economic situation in my country Zimbabwe, was really unstable and we found ourselves literally stuck! I was unable to return and resume my studies. With almost all options being exhausted, my brother Ryan took to Facebook where he made a video briefly explaining my situation and asking if anyone knew of some possible solutions we could try. People offered to help if we started a GoFundMe page and we built a little online community.

We managed to raise enough to get me back in the game. 

Till today I look back and think about how overwhelmed I was at the amount of support and funds we raised for me to return back to North Cyprus and continue my studies. Especially in such a short space of time. I still continue to thank everyone who was there for me till this date. Thank you!

Please note that the current figure of £2 255 raised is from that old campaign as we are not able to reset the numbers. The  new current total also has accounted for the GoFundMe commission/fees and for the bank transfer charges to N. Cyprus.

Left: On my way back home from a lecture. Right: Hahaha if you ever see me dressed up with a tie and shirt. Either, I ran out of clothes because I didn't do laundry OR, I have a presentation, and yes, you guessed  it. I had a presentation. I always get a bit nervous in the beginning but in the end ,it turns out okay and we make it work out.

Having gotten an Honours in my first year and still being on a partial scholarship, it's been a rollercoaster ride and sometimes you just have to hold on so tight that you don't fall out of the seat, as opposed to being flung around and actually enjoying the ride. My life and recent struggles have not been short of this analogy. I hope to bring you up to speed with all that has happened and all that is happening (podcast incoming) but right now I would like to focus on the main situation at hand...

It's no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the world and everyone has experienced some form of loss. I say a prayer for everyone going through a tough time.

I am still on the journey to obtain my bachelor degree in architecture and even though we have made significant progress from when I got here back in 2018, I still haven't been able to quite steady the ship and muscle on to the end. The biggest struggle is the tough financial situation. A lot of my progress has been disrupted by the fact that the financial situation is really bad! We even had quite the challenge in regaining access to this GoFundMe account, emails back and forth and that was valuable time wasted due to inactivity but alas, here we are finally!

Having to literally sleep on a friend's sofa for about one year now because I couldn't afford a room. Having to eat one meal a day because any more than that and I wouldn't make it through the month. Having a laptop that is outdated and lacking in performance. All these current issues have a negative compounding effect on the progression of my studies and can be very disruptive when you really want to get your head in the game and perform at your best, especially in architecture.

As I write these words I am extremely heartbroken due to the fact that on the 24th of July 2021, I received the devastating news of the passing on of my father back home in Zimbabwe. Due to the Covid situation and financial struggles, I could not travel back to be part of his burial procession. Slowly the reality sets in that you don't have that father figure to turn to and you feel this emptiness inside that nothing can fill. Also the thought of the pressure and financial burden now being solely on my mother, just adds to the difficulty and to my sadness.

There isn't really much more I can say in this moment and time other than that I really hope I can raise the amount required to continue with my studies, with the next semester beginning end of September 2021, so that I may eventually reach the end of this journey with the win I know my late father and everyone wants me to attain. As do I.

At the airport in Istanbul Turkey as I waited for my next flight to Harare, Zimbabwe in 2018. I literally don't mind spending a couple of hours in an airport because I just find there is so, so much to see and admire. Especially within the design and architecture.

Thank you for taking the time to read my campaign, please do consider helping out my campaign by donating and or sharing. Every little contribution makes a great difference. Right now as a family we are working on the tuition fees which is the bulk of the money required and should be able to meet that requirement by the necessary date 27th September.

So right now our GoFundMe campaign is focusing on raising the funds for my accommodation for one year, a high-end laptop or pc, and a little help with costs for my course and home utilities. All these other expenses (like building models for class) are just as important as the main tuition fees because life without balance makes things very uncomfortable, disruptive and not ideal. So I really just hope that I can have these expenditures somewhat better managed, so that I can really get my head in the game and focus on achieving the best grades possible because it will be unfortunate to have to go through the semester with the same handicaps like not knowing where I will sleep the next month or hoping my laptop doesn't blue-screen 'crash' in the middle of important assignments!

The breakdown of the required £5 800:

£2 100  - Accommodation For One Year.
£2 000 - A New High-End Laptop/PC.
£1 700 - General Expenses

All figures have been converted to British pounds to match that of the GoFundMe account.

For any further information please contact us and we will be more than happy to provide it as best we can.

Wishing you all the best, keep safe and take care.

Lots of love

Asad. 

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." -Milton Berle.

Note from Ryan: Unfortunately North Cyprus is no longer a country that allows access to this site, so Asad can't log in himself, but you can contact him directly in the facebook group or by using the email address provided.