Please help Haya El-Refai's Family Escape Gaza

I'm Gail Blackhall, an American who is a mentor for Haya as she writes beautifully about her experiences as a young mother in the Gaza war zone. She's been doing everything she can to protect her family, and right now, the greatest thing she can do is to escape. Please help! Her story is below:

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I am Haya El-Refai, 27 years old. I am a married mother of two little girls, Laya and Ayla. I have a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Before the war, I was a writer and freelance translator. I wrote essays for We Are Not Numbers, such as No birthday party for Ayla and Laya's first Eid.

Conditions are getting worse every day, and our children are getting sick the whole time. Laya needs her tonsils removed, but we can’t get the operation in Gaza. Our hearts break because she is suffering.

We used to work to build a future for my girls but since this war began, my husband and I are just trying to find safety. We’ve been displaced more than five times, and we’re now living in a tent. Our tent is cold at night and hot all day, with sand and insects everywhere. The markets are nearly empty. We use seawater for washing. We can barely find good water to drink. I've been sick for weeks with hepatitis because of the unhealthy conditions.

I’ve lost six close relatives. I worry that I will lose others, especially my kids. I can’t build a future for my children here. I just want them to have secure lives, with healthy food, clean water, peaceful lives, and good healthcare.

Your donation will help us build a new life and a future for our kids. I do not want my kids to have traumatic childhoods.

Here’s what we’ll need to escape from Gaza:

• $15,000 for four travel permits

• $5,000 for Laya’s tonsil surgery

• $6,000 for four-month living costs in Egypt

• $3,000 to set up a small business, buying and selling clothes

• $1,305, which is the 4.5% commission a Gazan currency exchange company to convert the funds to Egyptian cash needed for evacuation

• $841, which is the 2.9% commission charged by GoFundMe

Total amount my family needs: $31,146

Thank you so much for anything you can give!