Help Abdullah and His Family Seek Refuge From Gaza

Abdullah's Story:

"Hi everyone, my name is Abdullah Mezied I am 23 years old, and I write from the middle of the Gaza Strip, in the city of Deir al-Balah. Since nearly eight months me and my family have endured many trials, struggling to live and survive to the war.

We are exhausted. Everything is difficult, or risky. We cannot meet the most basic needs such as food, medicines, fuel to run the water pump, and wood because they are very difficult to find or have become rare and always very expensive. I am desperate to get my father, mother, sister and brothers out of Gaza. We have little to no savings left as we have been trying to live through this.

I am trying my best to provide for the persons I love and protect them. It is not easy for me to lean on outside help and ask, but your support is the only hope we have.

I am pursuing this funds campaign so I can take my family and myself to safety, in search of refuge from the constant danger of the war. And to be able to start over.

My dream is that my brothers, Motaz and Aseem, who had been volunteering nonstop to Al-Aqsa hospital, will be able to complete their education at the Faculty of Medicine in Egypt as their course of studies in Gaza has been brought to an immediate halt . [Aseem is a third-year student at the Islamic University and Motaz is a first-year student at Al-Azhar University]. And for my sister to complete her university studies and achieve success in her life.

As for me, I have only 12 academic hours left to graduate from the Faculty of Engineering from Al-Azhar University. I would love to graduate from my university in Gaza, but I have no choice. All our hopes and dreams of a future, as 20-year-olds and as students, have been crushed by the war. Education is the most important thing for us after we can survived the war. Education is our future, our ambition, and our goal. We do not want to refrain from education because of the tight financial situation.

Altogether, my family is 6 people - me, my mother, father, two brothers and one sister. We are living now close to the border [east of Salah al-Din]. Besides from food, water, medicine and supply shortages, diseases are widespread among us, and the situation is truly dire. The Rafah crossing is temporary closed, but the costs of getting out of Gaza have become in the last months more and more expensive. The cost of leaving Gaza through the Rafah crossing to enter Egypt changes quicky and ranges from £5000 to £10,000 per person. There is a lot of corruption amidst the war, and we are left with no choice.

Here we are exposed to fear and destruction, here we lost everything we own, and here we face the most painful and harmful thing, which is the psychological warfare we are exposed to and the psychological pressure to which we are exposed. Our souls suffered greatly.

I would appreciate any donation amount - small or large. We just want to continue living and live normal lives, as you do. If you cannot donate, please share this with as many people as possible, your friends, families, teachers, anything will help. These donations will be used to cover the costs of crossing the Rafah border and to pursue our University Education to accomplish our dreams and become active and purposeful members of society.

Please do not ignore our voice. You are able to change our lives and give us a new opportunity. You are able to revive our hope."

Fundraiser: My relationship to Abdullah is that he is a long-time friend of mine that I’ve known for over 4 years as we are both Palestinian. I will be sending the funds to him via Money Gram to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to which will be collected in cash by his uncle and given to them in order to pay for tickets to evacuate Gaza through the Rafah crossing and also to pay for him and his siblings University Education.

The names of all of the family members are as follows:

Father: Issa Khalil Mezied

Mother: Suhir Khalil Mezied

Daughter: Ola Issa Mezied

1st Son: Abdullah Issa Mezied

2nd Son: Assem Issa Mezied

3rd Son: Motaz Issa Mezied

Thank you all