Help Jana's Family Find Refuge and Peace

My name is Margaret "Maggie" Greene. I live near Seattle, Washington, and I am raising funds for Jana, a young artist in Palestine.

Jana is one of four children aged 10-16 who has been displaced due to the war in Gaza.

Jana's family were in the Hamid Street Beach Camp when the explosion happened in October 2023.

(above photo shows Hamid Street Beach camp before the bombing - 2016 image taken from UNRWA website)

(above photo shows Hamid Street Beach camp now - 2023 image courtesy of Jana)

Jana's father, Ihab Saleh Ibrahim Abu Hamda, age 49 (b. 1975), is a dermatologist and venereologist whose clinic was destroyed by bombs. He suffers from heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

There are no medications or commercial treatments available for him. They have no income, scarce access to food resources, and are forced daily to travel long distances and wait for hours for minimal water.

They are currently living in a tent.

(photo is of the tent Jana and her family are currently living in, in Rafah)

How do I know Jana?

I first encountered Jana’s artwork on Instagram in October 2023, while searching for art by young artists in Palestine to feature and amplify on my social channels as a gesture of solidarity and outrage against the genocide. Jana’s sketch artistry is beautiful and shows much promise and potential. It is devastating to think she may not live to grow her talents and skills, as art has the power to heal and change the world for the better.

I found Jana’s drawing from September 2023, published a month before the Hamid Street bombing, particularly compelling. It is an image of a human heart and brain shown as a singular organ, which I shared alongside a message of support for a global mutual ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.

(photo is of the drawing referenced above, by Jana)

Since that time, in mid-April 2024, with no other outside connections or resources to turn to for safety, in a moment of hopeless desperation, fear, and panic, Jana took a chance and reached out privately to me and asked for direct support.

Please help Jana and her family escape to safety outside of Palestine by donating now.

Jana's own urgent pleading words can be found below.

These messages are transcribed from direct messages with Jana on Instagram between April 14-19, 2024:

“My name is Jana, from Palestine, currently displaced to Rafah. You know our situation, of course, in Gaza. We are under fire and war. We were forcibly displaced from our homes and left without anything, neither clothes nor food.

"We are unable to sleep at night. The fire is above us even after we leave our homes. We live in an environment that is not fit for life. There is no electricity or good food. We are afflicted by malnutrition, epidemics, and diseases.

“My father used to work as a doctor in our city of Gaza, but now he is unable to work due to the current circumstances. His office was destroyed by the bombs and there is no money to live on.”

(photo is of Jana's father before the war)

“My family has 6 members. We want to secure our lives and food, to escape from war, to coordinate and travel, and to hope for a safe and quiet life. Traveling outside the country requires 10 thousand dollars per person.

“The bombing is [happening] above our heads. We feel afraid. We don't know where to go. We are suffering. Every day, my brothers and I get water from far away places. We are waiting in a long line to get drinking water from donors.”

More about Jana's Family

These are the names and ages of Jana’s family members, to whom all donations from this fundraiser will be directed:

In addition to this GoFundMe, I have reached out to the following organizations for support/relief on Jana’s behalf: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), Save the Children , Muslims Around the World (MATW Project), and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which all provide some level of support and humanitarian relief on the ground in Palestine and beyond to help war refugees flee to safety.

What will happen with your contributions?

The creator of this fundraiser, Maggie Greene, will collect funds on Jana’s behalf in her private U.S. bank account.

Each time the donation balance reaches $1,000USD, Maggie will initiate a direct international wire transfer (less a $50USD fee required by the bank to process the wire transfer) to release funds from her account into Jana’s mother’s bank account in Palestine.

Maggie will do this until the total fundraising goal ($65,000) is reached.

How will these funds be used?

Jana and her family’s immediate priority is fleeing Palestine to safety and procuring life-saving medicine for Jana's father, Ihab Saleh Ibrahim Abu Hamda, who needs Crestor, Plavix75, and Insulin for survival. Their family has been guaranteed safe relocation through coordination with Hala Coordination Company in Egypt. From Egypt they will coordinate immigration to an outside country that provides asylum and refuge - as yet their final destination is undetermined as they have no contacts outside of Palestine. They are willing to relocate to the United States or Canada if necessary, anywhere that can offer peace and safety.

The donations will be used to provide food and water for Jana, her two parents, and her 3 young siblings, as well as life-saving medications for her father, for whom many of the commercial medications are not available where they are in Rafah.

The majority of the funds will be used to pay for travel expenses ($10,000 per person, including 2 adults and 4 minors) for Jana and her family to relocate to safety outside of Rafah as soon as possible so that Jana's father can access the medical care he needs to live.