Help the children to survive in Gaza

Dear Donor,

My name is Margherita and I am a freelance translator from Italy (Milan) and together with a group of other professionals we have been running a GoFundMe campaign to provide my friend Wafaa and her extended family with financial support while they are stuck in the genocidal war in Gaza.

I met Wafaa in early 2021 via LinkedIn and after some long chats and video calls we became friends over the years, with the hope of meeting somewhere else in the world at some point in our lives.

Now Wafaa and her family have been displaced from their homes and they are living in tents in the Gaza Strip. Their home has been destroyed by the bombings and they lost everything.

Wafaa is one of the most educated people in her family, a strong and intelligent woman with a strong sense of duty and pride and, following my suggestion, she accepted the idea to start a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds (even if her nature make it difficult to do so).

At the beginning we were trying to collect the funds for evacuation, but this is not an option now anymore as the Rafah crossing is closed and they are just trying to survive.

ALL THE DONATIONS UNTIL THE BORDER OPENS WILL BE USED FOR ESSENTIALS: FOOD AND WATER.

Price of everything is sky-high in Gaza so your donation will really make a difference for Wafaa and her extensive family (there are more than 20 children that depend from these donations).

Please please please make a donation now through this campaign.

P.S. for a matter of pride and dignity we have decided to publish photos only of life BEFORE the war, the world has already seen it all

--------Original Text from Wafaa a few months back ------

I'm Wafaa Omar A.

I'm reaching out in desperate need to evacuate my family from the horrors of the war and bring them to safety. We've lost everything – our home, our sense of security, and our livelihoods.

My father was martyred last November during the war. He was buried without his family present. I did not get to see him one last time. It's a cruel feeling to lose one of your parents. My heart is filled of sadness, and I can't afford to lose any more family.

We had beautiful homes. We were forced to flee them. We have been continuously displaced from one place to another five times, desperately seeking safety, shelter, water and food. All our homes were destroyed, and we are homeless now. We lost everything. Can you imagine? If it proves difficult, let me provide you and example: below you can find the picture of the three-story-building where I used to live with my parents and my nephew C. On the first floor; my youngest brother and his family (including his two daughters under the age of 2) used to live on the second floor. In the third and last floor, my older brother used to live there with his wife and 5 children.

My other siblings used to live close by as well. All their homes have been destroyed. My other older brother was about to finalize the home he had been working on for a year – now destroyed by the bombings.

Each week, each DAY, our situation is becoming more dire.

We live in very bad circumstances in tents. There's no healthy water or food, and all we eat is canned food that we have to buy at high prices. The children are sick all the time and there are no medicines, and they live in constant suffering. In the cover photo, you can see their pictures before and during the war. You can see the sadness and pain in their young eyes. Some of them were born under the bombings, they do not know any different life than this one.

In total, there are 54 members of my family, including 21 children under 16 (some are not even 3 years old), old women and sick people are in urgent need of assistance to flee the escalating violence. With their homes destroyed, infrastructure crumbling, and the threat of airstrikes looming overhead. Our safety is in jeopardy at every moment and we have nowhere left to go.

We need to raise:

- $5000 for each family member over the age of 16: for a total of $165.000

-$2500 for each family member under the age of 16: for a total of $52.500

Grand total: $217.500 (around €205.000 as of today, April 12, 2024)(Update May 8: the currency exchange is still around the same amount in Euros)

Your support will make a profound difference in our lives as we seek refuge from the horrors of what daily life has become here, I hope you’ll be able to support me in this campaign, if not by donating, then by sharing with your family and friends.

Thank you for your generosity and compassion. We would appreciate any assistance, big or small, to ensure we are granted a chance at safety and a second chance at life.

With all my deepest gratitude,

Wafaa