Gazan university students restart their lives in Australia with support to study in Western Sydney
Nine months ago, she packed up her life in Gaza and made the difficult decision to start afresh in Australia.
"Leaving everything behind and coming here wasn't an easy decision … It's a very difficult thing because all of us now [have to] start from the beginning," Ms Alsammak said.
When Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Ms Alsammak was in the first week of a business degree.
In the months following, she went on to look after young children in Gaza and Egypt who had lost their families in the war.
"As much as I helped them, they helped me," Ms Alsammak said.
"I started working with children who came from trauma — I taught them how to deal with this life and how to express their feelings [through] small things, by art, drawing, playing drums."
Now in Sydney on a humanitarian visa, Ms Alsammak is among approximately 35 Palestinian students being supported to study at Western Sydney University (WSU) on a scholarship program for students fleeing conflict.
She has just weeks remaining of an English course, with plans to enrol in a psychology degree afterwards and specialise in children's music therapy.
"When I came here, I didn't have that much confidence to speak in English … this course was like a chance for us."
Gazans Tala Hakoura and Michael Helal have also been supported to study at WSU.
Ms Hakoura arrived in Australia in March 2024 with her father and brother.
Her mother and sister remain in Gaza, cheering Ms Hakoura on in her studies.
"I promised them that I want to study hard to get high marks … so when they hear my name [I] feel proud, that I'm doing it," the 20-year-old said.
Her father owned a jewellery store, running in the family since 1938, but it has since been reduced to rubble.
"All Gazans know his shop … but we lost everything," Ms Hakoura said, though her family are adamant on remaining "positive" amid the "very stressful" situation.
"We are Palestinian. We can handle anything."
Mr Helal was studying computer science before he fled alongside his parents and brother, arriving in Sydney over a year ago.
The 23-year-old still vividly remembers when he and his peers took shelter from bombardments in a Gazan church. His university campus was destroyed.
"I went out to the streets, and I did not recognise any of the surroundings and that's when I thought, 'This is going to take too long to fix, and it's probably for the best to leave'," Mr Helal said.
His parents' home had been damaged by bombardment too.
After being interrupted two years into his degree, Mr Helal was able to transfer subject credits and start midway through the course at WSU upon his arrival.
He hopes to secure an internship towards the end of his degree and work in artificial intelligence once he completes university.
"Most of all, I'm really happy because I'm getting somewhere. During the entire six months I sat during the war I was wondering, 'What's going to happen? Am I going to continue here? Is it going to be done soon? Am I leaving? Am I studying out there? Am I going to be able to study in Australia?'"
According to a 2024 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there is a decline in the proportion of refugees that receive education as age increases.
Around 65 per cent of refugees study at a secondary level. This rate drops to 7 per cent for tertiary education.
Chief executive officer of Refugee Education Australia and UNSW Kaldor Centre research affiliate Sally Baker said education was one of the first aspects of society to be "ruptured" during conflict.
"Fractured educational trajectories are common for people seeking asylum," Professor Baker said.
The United Nations Children's Fund estimates 90 per cent of all schools in Gaza are damaged or destroyed, with schools being used as shelter for survivors.
Professor Baker described education as "the key to hope" for young refugees.
"Having access to a form of education is absolutely fundamental to someone feeling hopeful about their future and not just focus on surviving in the moment," she said.
Now that Ms Hakoura has completed an English course, she hopes to start a business degree and one day reopen her family jewellery store to continue her dad's legacy.
"New people, new culture, new relationships, new traditions, like everything is new, so it was hard … but we are adaptive to everything," she said.
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