Please Help Tala and Her Family Escape and Heal

Our niece, 16-year-old Tala Alsayed, is the only one of her seven siblings to have survived the bombing of their house in Jabalia Refugee Camp in December, 2023. Her mother was also killed. Tala (in sunglasses in the photo, before the bombing) was badly burned and has lost most of her hearing. She has endured multiple skin grafts without anesthesia for the third-degree burns on her torso and arms, but she is not healing well and needs additional treatment to help repair the damage.

Tala’s family has lost everything. Her grandparents, refugees from the village of Al Masmiya Al Kabira in 1948, taught school for 40 years to save money to build a home for the extended family. That building, which housed Tala's immediate family, her grandmother, her aunts, five of her uncles and their wives and children, was bombed, and the remaining family members are now living with next to nothing in schools the children used to attend. There is no privacy; no electricity; no running water; the few toilets are shared among thousands of people; and everyone is ill. Tala’s fragile health is further threatened by the situation in which she is forced to live.

The children remaining in Tala’s extended family are all suffering, physically and mentally. There is very little food available, and no way to earn money to buy what there is. Even after pooling their savings, borrowing, and selling what assets they can, the family is not able to feed everyone every day, and their available cash has nearly run out. Starvation is around the corner.

Tala’s family is asking for assistance to leave Gaza for Egypt so that Tala and the other children who are ill can be treated, so they can be safe, and so that the children can return to school after six months of horror and isolation. Education has always been a source of pride in the family, and the children were at the top of their classes before the invasion. They miss the stability and security of the school routine terribly.

Funds raised will be used as follows:

Exit costs between $5,000 and $10,000 per person, including permits to leave, border crossing fees, and transportation.

Support for the family while they wait to leave.

Medical care for Tala (burn treatment, plastic surgery, hearing treatment, and mental health care), estimated at between $20,000 and $30,000.

Medical care for Tala's grandmother, who is wheelchair bound and suffering with gastric and respiratory illnesses and the effects of not eating regularly.

Medical and mental health care for the other children in the family, as needed.

Costs of temporary accommodations in Cairo, estimated at $600 to $700 per group per month for the following groups:

School fees for the children while they are in Egypt.

The family will use resources as they become available, focusing on getting Tala out for treatment first.

The family does not plan to settle permanently outside Gaza. Jabalia is home, and it will be home again. They will return to rebuild.

Tala’s uncle Ayman has traveled to Egypt to receive funds and coordinate their exit. Her aunt Rachel is coordinating fundraising in the US to help them escape and establish themselves. We are all so very, very thankful for whatever you are able to give to help them endure.