Asaad dreams: urgent call for support in Gaza.

Without your support, Every second pass distances me from my aspirations, making it increasingly difficult for both me and my family to survive the ongoing genocide.

I hope my message finds you well. My name is Asaad Shahwan, and I have a dream. I'm a 25-year-old Palestinian pharmacist. On October 7th, 2023, our lives turned upside down and the smell of death appeared everywhere.

In the initial days of the war, our area was bombed horribly and turned into a pile of rubble. Therefore, we relocated to a small room in Al-Quds Hospital, affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The scenes were scary there with a huge number of people seeking shelter from the continued bombing. After enduring four days there, we forcibly immigrated to Khanyunis City in the south of the Gaza Strip. At this point, I thought it would be our last displacement, but two months later, my family and I found ourselves in Rafah, in the deep south of the Gaza Strip.

Two years ago, my parents bought a wide and classy house in the heart of Gaza, aspiring to create a haven of peace and comfort. My father, a dedicated lecturer with 40 years of service in the Ministry of Education, and my mother, a committed doctor with three decades of experience in the Ministry of Health, worked tirelessly for our success. After an age of building a future for us and in just parts of a second, everything had gone away and our home was turned into rubble as my parents' hearts as well.

Before:

After:

I graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Al-Azhar University in July 2021, achieving a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy with a GPA average of approximately 86%. Subsequently, I worked as medical representative at Pal Top Med company, a new local pharmaceutical company in Gaza, where I was active, ambitious, and earned a decent salary.

At the beginning of 2023, I was pursuing a master's degree in pharmaceutical sciences at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. It was my dream to attain a higher academic certificate and complete my education journey.

I passed successfully my first semester and I was in the middle of the second semester, exactly on October 5th, 2023, I didn't know that I was taking my last lecture before the war erupted.

I usually spend my free time playing football and tennis floor at the YMCA club. Sadly, on July 15, 2023, during a routine football game, I got a complicated, hard, and severe painful injury in my left elbow compounded by nerve damage. Therefore, I had to undergo an urgent surgical operation as my bones of the elbow were smashed, I was urgently transferred to Al-Makased Hospital in Jerusalem and I underwent a surgical operation quickly which lasts for six hours. During it, the orthopedic doctors rode a block of platinum for my injured elbow to fix the complicated fracture.

Now, six months after the initial operation, I require a second surgery to remove the platinum. With no access to Jerusalem because the borders are closed, I plan to make the second operation in Egypt which will cost $5000.

X-ray of my elbow joint after the surgery:

I'm left with no home, no work, no study, and no source of income. The escalating prices of essential daily needs are overwhelming and we struggle to keep up with them. I humbly seek urgent support to flee from Gaza, proceed my second surgical operation, complete my postgraduate studies, enhance my education, and earn a new scientific certificate. Your compassionate help during this difficult period would mean the world to me.

Breaking money for:

I believe in spreading life, and love and making a positive impact. I'm interested in science, culture, and history. I dream of helping my city and society live in peace and freedom. After facing six aggressions and countless escalations, I've realized that I can make a difference by becoming an effective pharmacist and medical representative, adding value to people's lives here.

I plan to complete my master's degree in pharmaceutical sciences abroad in better conditions. Your support during this situation will give me hope to achieve my goal and contribute to the medical field here in Gaza. I appreciate any help you can offer as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

Asaad Shahwan