AUSTIN, Texas — A University of Texas at Austin law student who is part of an exchange program remains in Israel.
Oceane Maher said she was getting ready to begin her exchange program as part of a partnership between UT and Tel Aviv University. Maher just arrived last week as Israel declared war.
"I haven't started the exchange program," Maher said. "Everything has been delayed. All but three of us have already left. We were supposed to have 40, and we have only three left."
Maher said she is staying in an apartment in Tel Aviv and has been receiving notifications about what is happening along the Gaza Strip and in Israel.
"It is been very sad to see a humanitarian crisis unfold," Maher said. "And stressful to hear the bomb sirens and just to get all the notifications. Just a few minutes I got notifications about hostile air intrusions."
Maher took a video of the bomb sirens going off in Tel Aviv. She said they even had to seek cover in a bomb shelter there where rockets had hit.
But instead of coming home, Maher said she and two other exchange students, one of whom is also a UT student, are trying to help those impacted in the region as best they can. They started "Operation Manna" on Instagram and started raising money to help families. So far, they've raised about $5,000.
"I saw a lot of kids. There were 300 people in one of those villages and there are 120 left," Maher said. "The rest are either taken hostage or dead. So, I can only imagine what they are feeling right now. We are doing what we can here and I wish I could do more."
Maher said they've been buying food, toiletries, toys for kids and essential items. She said they recently gave items to Israeli families who fled and are staying at a hotel in Tel Aviv. Maher said she does not plan on coming back to the U.S. until December.
"I feel like I cannot walk away from this," Maher said. "We got our initiative going and it’s really working well so far so I feel compelled to stay here and make a difference."