Welcome everyone. My name is Ahmad from Palestine. I live in Gaza. I can't believe what happened to me and my family, everything is destroyed, and I don't know if it's still possible to think about my ambition, my goals, and my university, which I love the most. The war destroyed everything, including my studies. I did everything to become successful. Frankly speaking, I am no longer interested in either studying or my goals, because everyone in my family only thinks about safety and getting rid of this crazy war, and how to get out of this miserable life. The last months were full of death, fear, and displacement, and were a nightmare that destroyed our hope, our memories, and our homes. We did not expect that one day we would reach this difficult time. We love our country. We love our lives, but the life forms have disappeared.

There are 8 people in my family. We used to gather in our beautiful home and enjoy every moment. Each one of us did our best and tried hard to reach our goals, help each other, and build our future little by little and step by step. We wanted to see our brother graduate, but the dream faded. Everything changed at the beginning of October 7th. After two weeks of war, we had to leave home, fleeing from random and staggering missiles. We left our house carrying our few clothes and personal belongings and took refuge in the city of Deir al-Balah in the south of the Gaza Strip.”

My wonderful family and my mother who do not hesitate to support us psychologically and are there when I need them. She always creates strength from weakness, cooks for us from the scarce food available, and always brings us together even in the most difficult times. In addition, my father, who is talented and experienced, spent his life making our lives go well, but unfortunately he lost everything in this war. He lost his job, and we are left with nothing.

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Organizer Note:

My name is Kalyn, and I'm from the United States. Ahmad is my friend and I'm helping him and his family raise money to survive the war in Gaza and eventually leave for somewhere safer. Unfortunately, because the banks in Gaza are closed and GoFundMe does not operate in Palestine, someone in a different country has to host the page and send your donations to them. It's a little complicated, but I wanted to be transparent and honest with you about the process.

Thank you for reading and for your generosity.