Help a family of 12 in Gaza after they lost their home

Hi, I’m Suha Nashwan, 28, born and raised in Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Me and my family have lived in Beit Hanoun our entire lives. Our family has lived here for generations, this is our home. Since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza we were forced to evacuate several times, leaving behind our home, our belongings and the future we had been working towards. Death and destruction followed us everywhere until we managed to escape to the south of the Gaza Strip. We’re currently sleeping on the ground in a tent that does not protect us from the heat of summer or the cold of winter. Losing our beautiful home, which we had inherited from our ancestors, was beyond devastating. Our home was bombed and bulldozed, and our hopes and dreams were shattered along with it. We are enduring a suffering that is beyond anything you could imagine. This is why we’re asking for your help, as we are still in danger in Gaza.

Let me introduce you to me and my family:

I work as an architect in interior and exterior design, as well as as a mathematics teacher in an educational academy that I founded alongside my sister Aya. Watching my projects be implemented in reality brought me immense joy. I was incredibly passionate about my work as a teacher, but unfortunately our academy was destroyed alongside our home. In my free time I enjoyed doing handcrafts, especially together with children but now there are no more resources to do so.

Aya, 26, is an English teacher passionate about teaching. She established her own academy a week before the war after years of hard work to achieve this dream. Unfortunately, the academy was destroyed and her dreams were destroyed with it. She also lost her students in this brutal war. The doors of life closed in front of her, and she lost not only her job, but also her home.

Reem, 23, a civil engineer who graduated three months before the war with her graduation project about a comprehensive computer program designed to achieve the highest efficiency and lowest possible cost for waste water treatment plants (WWTP), aiming to achieve up to 99% purification of waste water. It was supposed to conduct a trial period in real WWTP, but the war has destroyed most infrastructure in Gaza and left the education and research systems in shambles.

Our youngest siblings are Shahd (20y.), Waed (17y.), Omar (15y.), Jana (12y.), Nehal (9y.) and Zaha (6y.). They have not yet completed their education. We’re living with our parents Abed and Nahed Nashwan as well as our aunt Naema Nashwan.

We’re hoping to someday be able to live in safety and with our basic human rights respected just like everybody else’s. Help us protect our future and enable us to live the life we deserve. If possible, we would like to stay in Gaza and rebuild our home. But if Israel’s imminent ground invasion in Rafah is allowed to happen, then we fear that our already dire living conditions will get even worse not to mention the life-threatening danger we’ll be in. Therefore, we also have to consider eventually evacuating Gaza in order to survive. Evacuation from Gaza is very expensive for a family of 12 who have lost everything they own. It cost 6000$ per person. Help us keep our family safe. We appreciate your help in our distress and possibly extricating us from the injustice of war.

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This fundraiser is being organised by Suha’s uncle and cousin based in Germany on behalf of Suha and her family, as requested and authorized by Suha. As funds can only be withdrawn from a limited number of countries, all money raised will be collected by Suha’s relatives, who will then coordinate the family’s evacuation from Gaza into Egypt. In the case that evacuation will not be possible due to insufficient funds or unforeseen circumstances, or not necessary should the war end anytime soon, all money raised will be transferred to the family once it is possible again. It will then go into rebuilding the family home, the sisters’ academy and other necessities once the current onslaught on Gaza is over.