Help the Qusay Matar family restart after losing everything

I am Muhammad Qusay Matar from Gaza, and my family consists of 4 members, me, my sister, my mother, and my father. My father works as a dentist, my mother owns a dress shop, and my sister and I were in high school.

As a normal kid and a sophomore in an UNRWA school, I was prepared to go to school on Saturday 7th of October; focused and determined to do good on my exam.

We thought it was going to last for a couple of days and a ceasefire would end it. Our thoughts were wrong and no one imagined it would be our last week in our house.

On October 13, the Israeli army called my father and told us to evacuate to the south of the Gaza Strip, and were unable to take our belongings due to lack of time, leaving everything behind. I left my teddy bear "Pooh," which reminded me of my childhood. My photo album, my school bag, my favorite tea cup, and our car that got smashed by tanks. Due to the scarcity of petroleum and gas, we could not fill it up and make it move so we left it behind. I wished I could've said goodbye to everything.

We went to Khan Yunis to the house of one of our relatives, where 27 people stayed and shared everything. On the day the army started bombing our street, we miraculously left the house under the belts of fire, and then we went to the Onorwa school near us. It was a difficult night because they threw smoke bombs and gases. The next morning, we evacuated to Rafaha, a place where thousands of Gazans were forcibly displaced. Every aspect of living was a challenge; nothing was available.

There, we were in a house that was not suitable for living, and there were many of us. We reused water after others washed, cooked, and showered with it. Pollution got me sick; I had a stomach germ and no medicine was available. When it rained, water seeped through the ceiling and our bed got wet in the water. It was not a house. It was a room covered with iron sheets.

One day they bombed the nearby mosque and the house fell on us. My father and I were dug out from under the rubble and I was injured in the head. I went to the hospital with a group of my relatives and the situation was very difficult. When we returned from the hospital, we went to Deir Al-Balah and then Al-Nuseirat.

Nothing was worse than the night when the sky turned red and the house fell on us. My mom turned on her flashlight starting to look for me, my sister, and my dad. She was barefoot stepping in glass and rocks and didn't pay attention to her blood because she was worried that she lost us. She took my sister out of the rubble, pulled my dad, and moved the rocks away from my head. We walked to the hospital at 2 AM and had to wait in line to get treatment. We had not been looked at well because of how many people were there. Days later, I got 5 stitches in my head and my mom is still waiting to get cured for her back.

The money that I am raising is going to help me and my family to start our life again after we lost everything. It will help my sister and I continue our education after both of my parents lost their jobs. I believe that God has written a new chapter for me to start this. It is very much appreciated if you could help us. I have some hope left and I am looking forward to it.

Mohammed's Instagram: @mhmdmartar

Alyana's Instagram: @elyanmattar