Help Dana Continue Her Education in Crisis

A Cry from the Heart of Gaza: I Am Dana, and My Dream Will Not Die

I am Dana Mohammed Yousef Al-Tawil, a young woman from Gaza City. I am 22 years old. I was born and raised in this small city—beautiful despite the pain, humble despite the oppression, and resilient despite the siege. I spent my childhood wandering its alleys, growing up with a love for learning and an unwavering determination to succeed.

I was always among the top students, ranking first in every academic stage. When I reached high school, I achieved a score of 98.1%. I enrolled at Al-Azhar University and chose to study Computer Engineering—a field I had long dreamed of mastering. I wanted to become a successful engineer, to innovate, to create, and to contribute to building a better future.

I completed my first year with distinction, and continued my journey into the second year with the same passion. I participated in programming activities, worked on tech projects, and built myself step by step. I watched my dream grow before my eyes.

But suddenly, the night came without a dawn.

War arrived…

Destruction followed…

And my future began to crumble.

My university was bombed and reduced to rubble.

Internet access was lost, and with it, my ability to continue studying.

Our home was struck, and I lost my books, notebooks, summaries, and my computer—my window to the world.

I lost everything… except my dream.

Days passed, and I cried every night over a future slipping away, over a dream torn from my heart.

Two years have gone by, and I’ve been forced to stop.

I’ve battled displacement, endured illness, and struggled to find food—all while holding onto a flame inside me that refuses to die. 

Today, I’ve made a decision:

To start again from zero.

To rebuild myself.

To return to my studies.

To become an engineer once more—stronger than ever.

But I cannot walk this path alone...

I need your support.

I need your hands to lift me from beneath the rubble.

I need help to pay my university fees, to buy a new computer, to reclaim the tools I lost.

Please, do not let money stand in the way of my dream.

Do not let hope be buried under the ruins of war.

Donate to me.

Help me rise again.

Be the reason the engineer Dana is reborn.

I am not asking for charity—I am asking for a chance.

A chance to finish what I started, to fulfill what I dreamed of, to prove that Gaza does not break, and that a girl who survived war can still create miracles.

With your support… I will return.

With your hearts… I will triumph.

With your faith in me… I will become the unbreakable engineer Dana.

—

Hi, my name is Markus Hood, from Kansas, and I’ve created this fundraiser on behalf of my beloved friend, Dana Al-Tawil, and her family. I first met Dana in October 2024 on X, where she reached out to me for help sharing her story and her original fundraiser for herself and her family. I have made a few videos on TikTok to help amplify her voice as well, hoping that with the comparatively greater reach I had there, I would be able to get her more help.

Recently, Dana reached out to me again, asking for my help to create a new fundraising campaign, so that she can continue her studies as well as survive with her family.

Before the current escalation began, Dana was a 21-year-old software engineering student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. She loved her field of work, entering into multiple programming courses and even working freelance for websites. Unfortunately, her university has now been destroyed, and following her passion has become much, much harder. Now, she is 22, and she and her two sisters, four brothers, and their parents have been displaced several times, staying in multiple damaged and unsafe buildings, including one whose roof partially collapsed on them, using any shelter they could find, and now that the amount of food aid entering the area has fallen dramatically, they are struggling to find even one meal a day. Dana has expressed how difficult it’s been for her to find enough food, both due to the scarcity and the rising prices that come with it.

Dana has asked me for help in raising money so she can continue to study software engineering online — tuition fees are expensive and it’s been very difficult for her to do anything in her field with everything going on.

Dana and her family want nothing more than to survive, and to live out their lives as best as they can under the circumstances until those circumstances get better. We are their only real hope of surviving, and I hope you all will join me in helping them. Thank you.