Help save Orjwan's family
Donation protected
April 2024- With the money raised so far, many thanks to our generous donors and thanks to the GoFundMe platform we managed in February to evacuate Orjwan and Mohammed and their two children, soon to be three! We were able to do this with the first 10000€ that we raised (we had also raised some money through other channels) as the price at the time to evacuate from Gaza through the Rafah crossing was 7000$ per adult. As the situation worsened and people became more desperate the fee per adult went up to 12500€. When our fundraiser reached around 21000€ we were able to evacuate Amani (Orjwan's mother)on 15th April. Our focus now is to continue to try and raise enough to get her sister Rawan and her two little girls Leen & Wateen out of Gaza to safety in Egypt. We need a further 24000€ to do this!. We have to continue to try and to have hope that we can do it, so any and every donation is helpful and counts. We have the knowledge of the success so far to drive us on. We all feel somewhat powerless to impact the overall situation, but here we can make a difference to one family, and that has already been so encouraging. Our donors know that they have literally saved lives. Let's save more!! We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts and we appeal for your continued support for Orjwan and her family.
Jan 27th 2024 - In the words of my friend Brian MacNamara below, a lot of his thoughts echo mine as I have been a friend of Orjwan's for over 5 years:
"In the midst of the chronic, unspeakable turmoil that is Gaza right now, we have the opportunity to save one beautiful young family who have so much to offer. Orjwan Shurrab is a twenty-eight year old journalist from Khan Younnis, Gaza, who first came into my life via the virtual world more than five years ago. At the time, Orjwan worked with the poorest and most disadvantaged children in Gaza, which was a dismally impoverished region. We worked on a couple of projects together over the years. Orjwan became a writer for a group, 'We Are Not Numbers' (which was funded by the famed writer and academic Refaat Alareer, murdered by Israel on December 7th), that teamed young prospective writers from Gaza with overseas mentors. In the intermittant contacts over the years I found Orjwan not only to be a highly intelligent young woman and an accomplished writer and as well as being incredibly gentle and caring, my friend is one of the strongest and most determined people I know. Since October 8th, the day after the horrific attack on Israel that triggered the current situation, I have been in almost daily contact with Orjwan as she and her family faced evermore into Hell. She and her husband Mohammad (who has a background in IT) have two children, little Orjwan (after herself), who is three years old turning 4 on Feb 9th and Nazir who is two. Immeadiately from the time the recent ceasefire broke Orjwan and her family were uncontactable for more than a week, during which time I feared she and her family had fallen victim to the genocidal onslaught. Mercifully, the family reappeared intact a while ago but with their house completely destroyed, her husband having had 15 members of his family wiped out, his sister Ameera being very close to Orjwan, a best friend as well as sister-in-law, they had to flee with just the clothes on their backs, the only possessions they now own. Since that time, they have been staying in a makeshift camp close to the Egyptian border in Rafah, which is subject to near-constant airstrikes, is massively overcrowded, with no clean water or sanitation, and scarcely any food coming in. There is an impending famine, and the epicentre of the fighting getting closer and closer. We are now raising money to ensure that Orjwan and her family can get out of the Hell that they are now in, over the border, and return to being positive leaders of their community. We have a date for their departure, a deal having been made with those that will help them out, but we still have a shortfall on the massive amount of money that they will need for their safe passage and have some small resources once they get to the other side. That is why we are now asking you for your urgent support. The planned date of their departure falls on the 4th birthday of their daughter. There is a link attached to Orjwan's writing which tells more about who she is and about her family. Thanks you very much for your support."
Brian MacNamara
link to more about Orjwan's story and writings
Organizer
Hazel Cullen
Organizer
County Dublin