HELP AKRAM REBUILD HIS FUTURE OUTSIDE OF GAZA

Hello, dear friends and compassionate souls,

I am reaching out to you with a heavy heart and a plea for assistance. My name is Saleel, I live in the United States, and my entire extended family lives in Gaza, Palestine, where they are currently grappling with an overwhelming crisis.

Below is a heartfelt message from my cousin, Akram, in Gaza to you all:

From: Cousin Akram

My name is Akram Aldwaik, and I'm 18 years old. I live with my family of five in the Bureij camp in the Gaza Strip. The devastating war started my senior year of high school. I had set high goals and ambitions for myself, but unfortunately, none of them came true. Instead, our lives have become much more difficult than you can imagine.

A few months before the war, we finished building our beautiful home, only to have it bombed, miraculously escaping death. Tragically, my 12-year-old displaced cousin was killed in our house, and we had to dig out my mother, sister, and my one-year-old niece from under the rubble. My school was also bombed, which put a halt to my academic performance.

As a result of this war, we have become homeless, many of my family members and relatives were brutally massacred, and the ones who are still alive have become scattered and displaced. I was at the top of my class rank and was planning to attend university abroad, but due to these circumstances, I am now a year and a half behind in my education, never getting the chance to graduate like every other student in the world.

Before the war, I dreamed of becoming the top student in my university. I wanted to enjoy a different scenery than the barricaded Gaza Strip, see beautiful cities, and have new experiences. Now, I dream of this never-ending war and bloodshed to end.

This fundraiser aims to help save my family from the destruction we are living in. I appeal for your generosity so that my twin brother, Malik, and I can travel outside Gaza to continue our education. I also hope for an improvement in my family's economic conditions so that we can leave the destruction behind and start anew outside the country.