Help Us Eat, Fighting Hunger, Fighting for Life

My name is Fouad Aldabba. I’m 27 years old, and I live in the northern Gaza Strip. I have a little brother, Mohammed, who is 18, and our father, Zafer, who has always worked hard to provide for us. For as long as I can remember, we have lived in the shadow of conflict, with the constant fear of airstrikes, bombings, and the uncertainty of what each day will bring. But lately, there’s something even more terrifying than the war—it’s the gnawing emptiness in our stomachs, the hunger that won’t go away.

Gaza is a place where survival often feels like a daily struggle. The blockade has made it almost impossible to find work, and with each passing month, food prices continue to rise while the wages remain the same. My father, who once worked as a trader, hasn’t been able to find a steady job for months. The ongoing violence has destroyed much of what little infrastructure we had, and the small businesses that used to support families like ours have been forced to close. This has left many, including us, with no way to earn a living.

For the last few months, our situation has worsened. We’ve become used to not knowing when we’ll eat our next meal. I have learned to ignore the hunger pains, to put on a brave face for Mohammed and my father. I try to smile when Mohammed asks me why he feels so weak, or when he tells me his stomach hurts. Sometimes, he asks if we can buy bread, but I don’t have the heart to tell him that there is no money for even that. Our father tries to keep hope alive, but I can see the strain on his face. I can see how his eyes have grown dull, how his shoulders have begun to slouch under the weight of responsibility.

We have always been a close-knit family, and we’ve always tried to take care of one another. But hunger is a relentless enemy. Some nights, we go to bed with nothing but water to drink, our stomachs empty, and our dreams filled with images of food we can’t afford. We try to ration the small amounts of food we get, but it’s never enough. My father hasn’t eaten a proper meal in weeks; he insists on giving whatever scraps we have to me and Mohammed. I can see the desperation in their eyes, and it breaks my heart.

There are days when I feel hopeless. I wonder how long we can keep going like this. How long can we survive on just scraps of bread or rice? How long can we pretend everything is okay when I know that tomorrow may bring us even closer to the edge of survival? It feels like we’re running out of time, running out of hope, and I don’t know what else to do.

That’s why I am writing this, asking for help. I have created this GoFundMe campaign not for myself, but for my family—for my father, who has always worked hard to take care of us, and for my little brother, mohammed, who deserves a chance to grow strong, to live a life free from hunger and fear. We are asking for food, for medicine, for the basic things we need to survive.

Our situation is dire. Every day, I fear that my father’s health will deteriorate further, or that Mohammed will continue to grow weaker. Without food, we don’t have much hope left. The aid that used to come to Gaza is insufficient, and with the increasing violence, it’s become even harder to receive help. The food we are able to get is never enough, and it’s often of poor quality. We are surviving, but just barely.

I know there are many people in the world who are suffering, and we are not the only ones going through this. But I ask you to please consider helping us, if you can. Even a small contribution can make a big difference. With your support, we can buy food to keep us alive, medicine to help Mohammed and my father stay healthy, and provide some relief from the constant hunger that threatens to break us. Your donation will allow us to get through this difficult time, to hold on for another day, another week. It will help us stay hopeful, knowing that there are people out there who care.

I am not asking for much—just enough to feed my family and give us the chance to survive. If you have ever known hunger, or if you have ever known the fear of losing your loved ones, you will understand why this means so much to me. Your kindness, no matter how small, could change our lives.

Please, help us. We are just a small family in a world that sometimes feels indifferent to our pain, but with your support, we can keep going. We can stay alive. And maybe, just maybe, we can one day have a future where hunger is no longer our constant companion.

Thank you.

Fouad,,