Save my family from being the next victims in Gaza

I am Mosalam, a sophomore at Whitman College. Like any other international student, I came to the US to seek a good education and take advantage of the opportunities available with a hope of contributing to promoting my family’s living conditions. I am the eldest among my siblings and my family had huge expectations of me as I got an opportunity that is quite special considering our background. However, since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7th, my family has been witnessing all kinds of hardships. They are currently displaced, can barely get clean water for their daily use, and are living on a day-to-day basis. In the meantime, as I see all the struggle they have been going through for more than four months, I am feeling helpless not being able to relieve them from this daily suffering. I am initiating this fundraiser hoping that you can assist me in getting my family to safety in Egypt by donating whatever you can.

A background of my family and their life before the war:

My family consists of 6 members: my parents, 2 brothers, a sister, and my grandma who lives with us in the same house.

My sister was in her last year of high school when the war started. She has been preparing for her high school leaving exams and putting hard work into studying as this year is crucial back home; it matters the most for higher education. Her dream was to pursue Engineering studies and to become the first engineer in our family. However, her dream has vanished after the war started as most educational institutions in Gaza have been crushed and no one knows how much time it would take to be rebuilt, if it ever happens.

My brother Mohammed was so passionate about football and he has been playing for his school team. He always wanted to play football at a high level. Instead of going to school daily and playing football with his peers, his daily routine turned to helping my father carry the water gallons for the rest of the family. Now he can truly consider his dreams to be mere dreams and not something he has the opportunity to achieve in his life. Here is a picture of him wearing the jersey of his favorite team:

Abdel-Aziz is the youngest of the family and he graduated from primary school last year. I always jokingly say to myself that he has gained 10 more years in maturity due to the events unfolding before his eyes for the past months. This is what I feel whenever I get the chance to call him on the phone; the way he talks or thinks about life has hugely changed. Below is a picture of him:

How the war destroyed our lives and dreams:

We used to live in an apartment located northwest of Gaza in a neighborhood called Al-Nassir. As a family, we have been living in this house for more than 20 years and we had all of our happy moments there. A few months before the war, my father renewed the house and he spent years of savings on this.

When the war started, our area was among the firsts that were threatened and thus my family needed

to evacuate to a safer location. At this time, my family didn’t have any option except to seek shelter at my aunt’s house, not that far from our house, but much safer. They didn’t spend more than a week there until all residents in the Northern part of Gaza were asked to evacuate to the Southern part. This was one of the toughest moments as my family didn’t know at the moment they were leaving our house, that it was the last time they would ever get a chance to lay their eyes on it. At last, they evacuated to their friend’s house and have been staying there since that moment. My mother’s family has also joined them as their house, another house that we had many joyful moments at, was bombed and they had no other shelter.

During the truce that took place around 2 months after the start of the war, my family was planning to go back to our house to fetch some of their belongings, as they thought that their departure was only temporary.

Thereafter, my family received the most awful news for them since the beginning of the war; our neighborhood had been horribly bombed and our house was gone. Here is a picture of our building:

It has been 147 days since the war started and each day the situation is getting worse and worse. No one expected the war to occur in such a terrifying way. Our home has been crushed; my family has been displaced, starved, and they live the most drastic days of their lives. I barely get the chance to talk to them and when I lose contact with them, I only pray to my God to protect them and keep them alive.

The place that my family stays at is no longer secure. The Israeli forces are getting closer to them and they have no place to leave for. Finding a new shelter in Gaza is nearly impossible; the prices have tremendously inflated and moving in the current situation is a huge risk. My grandmother has chronic diseases and she is running out of her necessary medications. Medications are scarce and the hospitals are overwhelmed and are not safe anymore; I believe you all had the chance to see this across social media platforms.

Your help and donations go beyond financial support. It is a contribution to protecting human life and a commitment to solidarity, and compassion in the face of a clear injustice. Every donation whether big or small matters and will have an impact on saving my family.

How the donations will be spent:

The most feasible solution for my family right now is to leave for Egypt. It’s the closest place to Gaza and we have some relatives there. My family can stay there till the situation gets better and things get clearer to them. What matters right now is to save their lives and get them out of Gaza.

I will also include my mother’s family as their house was destroyed and it will be tough for my mother to leave her family to an unknown future. They are five people: two men, two women, and my grandmother.

From the moment your help gets to my family, I will post updates on every process they go through.

I’m grateful to everyone for taking the time to read my story and thanks to every single donor and those who will repost this fundraiser.

I will keep you all updated