In May 2026 I will be running Stockholm marathon in aid of my friend Arwa, who lives in Khan Younis. I am starting to fundraise now as we are at a critical juncture with the ceasefire. Here is Arwa's story, and below is a little about how she and I met and our friendship.

My name is Arwa, and I live with my mother, my brother, and my four sisters in the Gaza Strip. Over the past two years, our lives have changed completely. We lost our home and the place that once gave us a sense of safety. Now, we have nowhere stable to live, and very little around us that allows us to imagine a future here.

That is why we are preparing to travel to Egypt, where we can start again to move toward a life where we can heal, rebuild, and look forward to better days. I want to continue my education; my brother hopes to find a job and support the family; my 22-year-old sister wants to study and work; and my youngest sisters, who are 14 and 12, dream of returning to school. We want to live again with purpose, stability, and hope.

Every small act of support and kindness brings us closer to safety and hope. From our hearts, thank you for helping us take this step toward a new beginning.

So back in May, I wanted to start Levantine Arabic lessons, and I was searching specifically for a Palestinian tutor. Aside from being the dialect I am interested in, I think that preservation of language is part of the puzzle of resistance. I found Arwa’s profile, saw we were the same age and that she looked friendly so signed up. What I hadn’t realised until our lesson was that Arwa was in Gaza. As such, over the last few months, I have not only had the privilege of learning (some) Arabic, and about Palestinian idiosyncrasies, but have also gained insight into the day-to-day life of Gazans. Arwa and I have spoken almost everyday, and we have a lot in common. Women in our mid-twenties, we are both academic, enjoy coconut scented shampoo and are close with our mothers. In fact, Arwa myself and my mother have a group chat, where we send pictures of the sunsets- from here in Sweden, in Wales, and in Gaza. We often say there is comfort in knowing that we are all under the same sky. However, we are also of course worlds apart. I will never forget receiving a message from Arwa that my second lesson would be postponed because Arwa and her family had to evacuate. This was the first time I had been so directly confronted with the impact of Israeli aggression- despite having heard about it for 18 months. I am incredibly grateful for the insight Arwa has given me over the last few months, and to everybody who donates to this.

The funds will be paid into my account, and transferred to Arwa, they will be used to support evacuation and in rebuilding once they leave the strip.