MACON, Ga. — An international student at Mercer University is turning to his community for financial help after being affected by the war in Russia against Ukraine.
Batyr Matyakubov is a freshman at Mercer University. The university's motto is: "Everyone majors in changing the world." However, for Batyr, the war happening on the other side of the world has put him in a tough situation.
"Throughout this moment of turbulence, I have the hope that I can pull through because I have so many people backing me up," Matyakubov said.
Now, he's looking for the community's support.
Batyr is from Turkmenistan, a central Asian republic 2,000 miles south of Russia and 1,500 miles south of Ukraine.
To be a student at Mercer University, he needed a sponsor. Although he has a full tuition scholarship and passing his classes, he's mostly worried about staying financially afloat and still needs funds to cover his living expenses.
"My brother was supposed to be the one to cover me for my housing and the remaining fees," Matyakubov said.
Batyr's brother lives in Russia and was helping out with his housing expenses. Due to the war against Ukraine, however, the sanctions restricted him from sending money back to Batyr.
"If I don't make the payment until the end of the semester, I'll have to go back and arriving here was a very big problem for me because I felt like I was a burden to my family," Matyakubov said.
Now, with the help of students and staff members, there is a GoFundMe Fundraiser for him to receive donations to get him back on track.
"He's an example of how a person can be caught up in events that are much greater than themselves," Davis said.
David Davis is Batyr's honors professor and he was one of many faculty members who shared the GoFundMe link for the community to tune in and help.
"It's highly unusual to have an international student from Turkmenistan in the first place, and thus because of being fairly unique, Batyr offers a great deal to the campus community," Davis said. "So he has the challenge of being a unique student in a new environment and of course, transitioning to college is complicated for anyone, let alone someone going to college on the other side of the world."
Batyr said he needs $2,000 to cover the rest of this semester and $12,000 for next semester.
You can go to www.GoFundMe.com/Wish-To-Continue-Studying to donate.