Help Us Build WISH: A Lifeline for International Students in the West
We are international students and immigrants from the Global South, living, studying, and striving in Western countries, especially the UK. We came here with dreams. With determination. With everything we had.
We left our families, our countries, and our comfort zones to invest in the future not just for ourselves, but for our communities and the world. We paid tens of thousands in tuition. We earned our degrees. We worked shifts, studied through exhaustion, and followed every rule. We believed that opportunity would follow hard work.
But here’s the truth they don’t tell you:
We are still left out.
Even after doing everything right, international students and immigrants in the UK face:
• Constant job rejection without a UK driver’s license
• Demands for “UK experience” when we’ve just graduated
• Being locked out of corporate roles where we could learn on the job
• Paying full taxes with little or no access to public support
• A system that treats us like second-class citizens
And what hurts the most?
The system makes us fight each other.
Those who finally survive it often mistreat others just beginning the journey because this system teaches survival, not solidarity.
That’s why we created WISH – the Western International Students Help.
WISH is more than an initiative it’s a lifeline. A support system built by us, for us.
WISH will:
• Provide emergency and shared housing for struggling students
• Support tuition payments through manageable installment plans
• Offer paid training and teaching opportunities
• Build powerful communities of students and alumni across the West
• Host workshops, skill-sharing, and media content to uplift our voices
We are ready. We are organized. We are resilient.
But we need your help to bring WISH to life.
Why we need your support:
Many of us are volunteering across multiple sectors just to gain experience.
Some of us are still repaying loans from our degrees.
Most of us cannot afford the driving lessons, housing costs, or the startup funding needed to launch this movement.
But we have a plan. We have the experience. We have the will.
What we don’t have is the financial backing yet.
This is where you come in.
If you’ve ever believed in fairness, justice, and supporting those who are overlooked please donate.
£5, £10, or £20 could help us rent space, fund training, build infrastructure, and turn WISH into the platform the system never gave us.
This is not charity.
This is change.
This is justice.
This is WISH.
Let’s rewrite the immigrant experience. Let’s build WISH — together.
With unity and hope,
The WISH Founding Team
International Students & Immigrants from the Global South