Enas, Fady, and Baby Ilana's Future & Emergency Fund

Dear friends,

I'm Tammy and I started this fundraiser for my friends in Gaza; Enas, her husband, Fady Adnan Khader Al-Zabdah, and their baby daughter Ilana.

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NEW UPDATE (Nov. 2024): Due to the desperate and ongoing situation, this fund is now being directed to their family's basic needs for survival on the ground, such as for shelter, food and medicine. Since this fundraiser was created and written, they have been displaced over ten times, have survived many attacks and have tragically had close friends and family martyred. We are now fundraising for not only Fady, his wife Enas (who is pregnant), and their baby Ilana, but also Fady’s nine brothers, two sisters, his brother’s children, and his mother.

Kefah is Fady’s brother. He was partially paralyzed by an Israeli airstrike several years ago and is in a wheelchair. His name كفاح translates to “struggle”. As such, the constant displacement and danger is even more of a challenge. He requires medicine and his wheelchair requires a new battery. Fady’s older sister lives with an intellectual disability, but she still smiles despite their circumstances.

Baby Ilana is now walking on her own. She went to the doctor for a check-up a couple of weeks ago, and also got her second polio vaccine. She is thankfully relatively healthy, as are Enas and Fady. Unfortunately, another winter is coming and their family needs food, warm blankets, clothing, medicine, diapers, and shelter. Everything they had was destroyed by an airstrike on their refugee camp in early October.

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Original fundraising description below, with their family's story:

Enas is a sociologist, and her husband Fady is a hairdresser. He ran a salon in Khan Yunis which was bombed, along with their home, belongings, and any savings they had. After having been displaced, they sheltered in a makeshift tent in Rafah and caring for their young baby with very little to no access to healthcare, sanitation, water, or food.

"I myself would like to move out, with my husband and my child. There is no place left for us to live in. They have completely destroyed the area and it is not suitable for living."

- Enas

Baby Ilana

Fady cutting hair at his salon, which has been since been destroyed along with their livelihood.

Their home which was destroyed.

Outside their tent in Rafah, where they were previously displaced.

But then, Rafah was attacked, and they were forced to flee back to Khan Yunis. Today, they live in a bombed out building in the heat, living on meager supplies, and surrounded by the sounds and constant threat of warfare.

Ilana was born just one month before the siege started. She deserves life, and like any child, deserves a childhood beyond this violence.

Words from Fady:

"I am a father of a 7-month-old daughter, Ilana. Our lives were simple, and like everyone else we were dreaming of our future and we were all grateful for the little things that made us happy. But our dreams and ambitions were shattered in this difficult war.

I hope that I, my wife and my child will live like any family in this world in peace, security and stability. I want to give them everything they want, but the harshness of life here has deprived us of everything. How it hurts my heart to see them suffering from hunger and death, and I can't do anything.

I do not wish to leave my country. I love my country and I love living here, but after they destroyed my home that we worked so hard to build for years, and my only source of livelihood was destroyed, to save my daughter and wife.... All this forced me to evacuate. That is why I appeal to you, your friends and people of conscience who sympathize with humanity, to help us provide the necessary amount to find safety for our small family. May God protect you all."

Life inside their tent in Rafah

Fady with his mother and niece, who they will be leaving behind.

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Update Summer 2024 - The following was the original intended use for the funds: Funds raised will be used to help Enas, their mother, Fady, and Ilana enter Egypt (at a cost of USD $7k per person, and $3k for Ilana as a baby), plus the necessary travelling fees, and a minimal sum to help them restart their life in Egypt. A small portion of the funds will also be used to cover any GoFundMe platform fees, and as they do not have access to an operational bank in Gaza, any Western Union fees. Funds will be deposited into my TD Bank account here in Canada, and then sent to them as we raise enough. In the meantime, Enas will be coordinating with the Egyptian Ya Hala Travel Company for their evacuation plans.

In this difficult time, thank you for extending your generosity a little bit further to help this small family. Any small amount you can give will make a real difference in supporting necessities for life and keep their hope alive.

Sincerely,

Tammy on behalf of Enas, Fady & Ilana

Fady Al Zabda on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fady_al_zabda/