Taleen Baboun
My experience
My name is Taleen Baboun, and I come from a Christian-Palestinian family from Bethlehem, Palestine. The many old houses in my city shaped me early on and aroused my interest in architecture.
So I decided to study architecture – a career aspiration that has always been a big dream for me. The first step on this path was my bachelor's degree at Birzeit University. But I soon realized that this would not be enough to realize my ideas. That's why I continued my studies to gain more experience and one day realize projects in my homeland that will evolve our architectural heritage.
At the end of 2019, I enrolled at TU Wien. But shortly afterwards, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, which had severe economic consequences worldwide. My hometown, which lives to a large extent from tourism, was hit particularly hard. Since my father works in this field, our family was also directly affected. As soon as the situation had calmed down somewhat after the pandemic, the political situation in Palestine deteriorated – and with it my studies were also in danger.
During this difficult time, during one of Pastor Frank Meinel's trips to the Holy Land, my father got to know the Mach Foundation, where he was the group's tour guide, and then told us about the support that the Foundation offers to students.
I am grateful to the Mach Foundation from the bottom of my heart for this. Your help has opened up new opportunities not only for me, but also for many other people in need. I would like to thank all the employees of the Foundation for their kindness and commitment and wish them continued success for the future