Help Nurse Shaima Escape Gaza: Your support will save her

Hello, it’s Donna here. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m currently volunteering in Egypt with The Hands Up Project, helping to create an educational space for Palestinian children. Today, I'd like to share the story of someone extraordinary—Shaima, the little sister of a dear friend, Raja’a.

Earlier this year, Raja’a made a heroic journey across the Rafah border with her five children, securing a safer future for them. This was only possible thanks to the generosity of so many supporters, and for that, we are endlessly grateful. But now, it’s Shaima’s turn to need our help.

Shaima, 24, is a qualified general nurse who has chosen to stay behind in Northern Gaza, volunteering day and night in unimaginably dangerous conditions. She receives no salary for her tireless work—only food packages, which she cherishes in an area devastated by endless violence and famine.

Three years ago, when Shaima proudly graduated as a nurse, she never imagined her career would begin as a humanitarian nurse in her war-torn homeland. She has witnessed horrors no one should, and yet she continues to bring hope and healing to those around her. Shaima works in the neonatal unit, where she finds brief moments of joy helping new lives enter the world. But what kind of life awaits these children in a place that has become the most dangerous in the world?

Despite the dangers, Shaima remains deeply committed to her patients and her calling. Her dedication is so profound that she stayed behind even as her family left six months ago. With military forces surrounding the hospital where she works, she risks her life daily, stealing quick moments to send messages to her sister: “I am alive, and I love you.”

If you could meet Raja’a and her family, you’d know they are some of the most compassionate and resilient people you could ever encounter. Shaima is no different. She dreams of using her nursing skills to help people in a safer environment—something she cannot do while trapped in Gaza.

This is where we come in… Our goal is to raise $10,000 in total, to cover Shaima’s crossing into Egypt through the Rafah border—the most perilous part of her journey. From there, we have a clear pathway to help her secure a skilled worker visa and begin a nursing career with the NHS in the UK. The rest of the money will be used for living costs while she’s in Egypt, sorting out her onward journey, and setting herself in the UK with all the expenditures you’d expect as a new person arriving at a different country.

Having worked in the NHS for over a decade, I know how desperately we need skilled, dedicated nurses like Shaima. By helping her, we’re not just giving her a chance at a better future—we’re strengthening our healthcare system with someone who truly embodies compassion and resilience.

Every penny, sharing of this page & conversation counts. Once we raise the funds, Shaima can immediately join the list of those waiting to leave Gaza when the border reopens. We’re already submitting her application through Talent Beyond Boundaries, setting her on the path to becoming an NHS nurse.

Let’s give Shaima the chance she deserves—a chance for safety, a career, and the opportunity to continue her incredible work, free from the fear of violence. I honestly think we can do this & just imagine that moment when we finally do! I already have tears in my eyes.

Thanks for reading this, and we’ll hear from Raja’a and Shaima over the coming weeks…