Gaza: Help Tala and her Parents Rebuild Their Live

UPDATE: We made it out alive and are now in Cairo! Thank you for all your support.

Now we are hoping to start a new life if Australia, but we have lost everything - our home, jobs, car, and all our assets. We are struggling to find hope.

Nothing can replace our beloved homes and memories, but little can help us stand on our feet and start over again.

We humbly request your continuous support to help us. Your assistance is crucial for us during these challenging times.

Your support would mean the world to us.

Kind regards,

Tala

(Please note: As GoFundMe is not working on my local bank, this page is set up by my Norwegian friend, who will transfer all the money to me when the campaign close).

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My name is Tala Ayyad, I am 25 years old. I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration and have been working in an unemployment project from the Holy Family Church for two and a half years. I was born in Gaza and I have lived here with both of my parents ever since.

Living in Gaza was never easy for us Palestinian Christians and since 2014 we have had several assaults, but we were able to overcome them and stay in our houses. But this time is completely different. In October 7, 2023, our whole life got turned upside down. We live in fear for our lives that any moment could be our last.

Two days into the war we had to go to Saint Porphyrios church in hope that it would be a safer place than our house, but on October 19, 2023, the scout building in the church compound (192 people were in it) was suddenly bombed and 17 died - most of them were women and children. No place is safe and we are not okay. At first, we though it would take a couple of days before we could go back and live in our house but we couldn’t till now. For a long time during the war all kind of communications in Gaza including calls, internet and landlines was stopped. We had no access to any news nor information on what was going outside the church, and neither our friends and families outside didn’t know if we were alive or not. Just loud noises of airstrikes all the time.

After the pause, we went out of the church to check on our home. No words can describe how painful the streets and buildings were destroyed. We could barley recognize our street, it was shocking seeing all the damage. There was no door to our house, we went through the destroyed entrance wall and saw that our beautiful green garden was burned. There was no wall in the kitchen, everywhere is a mess and unfortunately, my room was full of bullets and burned, all of my clothes were burned or have bullets in it. My childhood memories were destroyed.

On November 7, 2023, we were woken up by the sounds of close bombing and the smell of smoke. Several airstrikes in the church neighborhood and our new car (we bought it in August 22, 2023 and cost 18,000$) got bombed and burned to the ground. We were hesitant at first whether to put it in our garage or to take it with us, however in the end both places got destroyed.

Each day is worse than the day before. It is very difficult to access the basic necessities like food, electricity and clean drinking water. I have had multiple stomach ache and diarrhea because of the polluted drinking water, even my parent’s medicines (hypertension medicines) is hard to provide and our pet bird died from lack of food. We haven’t eaten vegetables, fruits for months as they are very expensive. The war has also resulted in my that unemployment project at the Church having stopped.

Me and my parents want a peaceful life. The money from this fundraiser will be used entirely for peaceful purpose to evacuate me and my family (3 people) to Egypt so that we may be safe from harm. The cost of evacuation is 5,500$ per person and keeps changing. We want to rebuild our lives in Australia, we have some relatives there and they helped us grant a visitor’s visa. as well as the fees, flight tickets and the basic expenses in Australia such as furniture, groceries and medicine.

Each day that passes, we don’t feel safe and we feel it is urgent to go out of Gaza. Your support will help me and my parents start a new life.

The future is unknown in Gaza, but if we couldn’t get to Egypt whether because of safety precautions, or availability of funds, we will use the funds raised to meet our emergency needs here in Gaza.

I am thankful and grateful for your kind and generous help and support for us to be able to start a new life.

(Please note: As GoFundMe is not working on my local bank, this page is set up by my Norwegian friend, who will transfer all the money to me when the campaign close).