Help Khaled, Faten and baby Nai survive and leave Gaza

Hi, I'm Linda and I'm from Italy. I'm helping my friends Khaled and Faten raise funds to buy milk, diapers, food and basic necessities.

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I let Faten and Khaled tell their story. Here are their words:

“I’m Faten from Gaza and I am 23 years old. Before October 7th, I had a very beautiful life, and I married the person I love in the year 2023. His name is Khaled. We had one of the most beautiful homes, full of a charming and immortal love for each other, full of comfort, full of reassurance. This house was my comfort and we had memories in every corner. In the same year 2023 God honored us and I discovered I was pregnant with a girl and we decided to name her Nay. Khaled and I were planning and dreaming our first daughter’s life and future. I was planning to make her a bedroom, one of the best rooms for children, and I was planning to go buy clothes for her, but October 7th came, the fateful day. This is the day everything ended, our dreams, our ambition, our lives, everything!

We were forced to leave our home and leave everything behind, we only took a very small bag with us.

I was hoping that I would give birth to my daughter at home and the war would end soon, but I gave birth to her during the war and the circumstances were very difficult. I will never forget the day I went to the hospital: we couldn’t find a car, so I had to walk while swallowing the pain of childbirth and when I arrived at the hospital it was in very bad conditions and there were no services available. When I gave birth to my daughter the electricity was off. I couldn’t rest enough in the hospital and I had to leave it soon. I was hoping to hug my daughter and take her to our house and put her in her bed that I was drawing in my imagination, but my daughter went to a very bad place: the tent. I have never forgotten that feeling. I was hoping that we would have prepared for her some of the most beautiful clothes and all the baby supplies. This is the first joy that I could not afford. I gave birth to her in the winter, and I was afraid for her because of the cold. The tent is a piece of cloth, very dark in color, and there is no life in it. I wanted to protect my daughter from everything in this dark life, but I will not forget the kindness of my husband and my mother. They were always my support in this difficult time.

My daughter, Nay, began to grow month by month, and I wished that we would go home and return to our lives, but our house was completely destroyed, our memories went to hell, and here I lost hope.

Khaled and I look at our daughter every day and pray to God that the war would end and that we would get out of this miserable tent. We would like to be happy for our daughter, just like other parents in the world. But now Nay is 6 months old and this war has not ended, and I have become a body without a soul, desperate and lifeless. I thank God very much for the presence of my husband and my daughter, but I am very sad because she was born during these difficult circumstances and because she will grow up in this bad tent. My daughter will love me, but I do not want her to love this tent between the sand and I do not want her to grow up in this dangerous place.

I am writing my story, I am very sad and very desperate, but I still have a small dose of hope that you will help me to save my daughter’s life.”

Here are Khaled's words:

"I am Khaled Al-Shami from Gaza. I am 22 years old. Before this war my life was beautiful and everything was fine. I had my own business, a beautiful house, and a car. I had everything. I got married a year ago and started a family. My baby girl Nay was born on the 6th of February 2024 during the offensive war launched by the Israeli army. My wife gave birth to my first baby girl in bad and frightening circumstances, with everything cut off, everything was scarce. Nothing was available. Water, dates, and a little bread. Israel destroyed my beautiful house and my car. They destroyed all my ambitions. My daughter, who was one day old, had no home. She was homeless from the first day. It was cold. There was nothing available. I cannot buy milk and basic necessities. Everything is expensive and I do not have money.

I often considered suicide. I do not know what to do: I am unable to work; my daughter cries every day and cannot sleep because of the rain and the extreme cold.

Days passed and I made an Italian friend online who was kind and helped me. I now feel more hopeful and I thank them for standing by my side. I thank the Italian people and all the kind people across the world for standing with the people of Palestine.

If you can, please donate to help me provide the basic requirements for my only dauther: milk, diapers, and healthy food; even if you can't donate, please share my story on social media and with your friends. It helps a lot!"

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This is the baby:

This was their home:

And now they live in a tent:

Recently Khaled was able to return to see his home and found it like this, a pile of rubble:

This family was displaced 6 times in total (until 1st August): twice while Faten was pregnant and 4 times after Nay’s birth.

These are the members of this young family, all the donations will go to them:

Faten Wajid Awad, the mother, 23 years old

Khaled Abdul Karim Al-Shami, the father, 23 years old

Nay Khaled Al-Shami, the daughter, 7 months old

Their life, before and after the war: