Marlen Zrayna Abu Saad
Former scholarship holder
(first in Aalen, then in Bethlehem from 1998 to 2006)
My name is Marlen Zrayna Abu Saad, and I was born in Beit Jala. I was a student at the Talitha Kumi School Centre, and I graduated in 1996. I have been married since 2006 and have two children, Tamar (16 years old) and Ryan (13 years old). My husband George Abu Saad is from Jerusalem.
We have been living in Bir Una – Jerusalem since 2006.
After leaving school, I came to Germany through a good friend (Laila Malkus). I worked as an au pair with the Neubart family in Kiel for a year and attended the “Studienkolleg” intensive language training at the same time. Thanks to this lovely family, I was able to adapt quickly and also make good progress in German.
After I had passed my “Studienkolleg” course, I decided to go to southern Germany and moved from Kiel to Aalen in Baden Württemberg to study. In 2000, I started studying business administration at the Aalen University of Applied Sciences.
After graduating, I had to make a difficult decision: I chose to return home. Although I very much wanted to stay in Germany, I believed at the time that, with my degree, I should work in my home country.
Immediately after graduating, I got a job as marketing and sales manager at the Jerusalem branch of the Khamis Trading Company. The company is the license holder of the Israeli company Tnuva, Israel’s largest and best-known dairy products manufacturer. The owner of the company is Nicola Khamis, a Christian businessman from Beit Jala. I still work for the same company today, and I am constantly trying to develop myself further.
I have maintained my contacts with Germany by always staying in touch with my friends. I hope so much that my children will also get the chance to study in Germany, because they are impressed by Germany and by the thought of studying there. Like many other young people, Tamar and Ryan dream of experiencing life abroad.
I only hope that, to give us hope, peace will return to our country, because this is a difficult time for everyone living in this region.
Best wishes from the Holy Land
Marlen Abu Saad