Donate to Help Shaima's Family Find Safety

My name is Sara, and I reside in Wisconsin, USA. I am helping to fundraise for Shaima, a 20 year old student from Gaza, Occupied Palestine. Please take a moment to read Shaima’s story, and please, consider donating even just the minimum of $5. If we all work together, we can help a family survive.

“I am Shaima Adwan, I am 20 years old, I have a big family consisting of 11 people, we live in the Gaza Strip in Rafah city. My father passed away in 2011.

My older brother Mohammed is married and has two children, Fouad, 7 years old, and Moaz, 5 years old. My brother had his own house and his own job, as he used to work as a freelancer in video editing and data analysis, but because of the war, he lost his job. My second brother, Basher, who is 25 years old, was studying at the university, but he did not complete his education, and he did not get the chance to build his future and achieve his goals.

I have two sisters, Wafaa, who is 30 years old, studied geography and teaching methods at university, but unfortunately, she never got a job. She had enrolled in a course to learn graphic design, but unfortunately, she could not complete the course because of the war, and she lost hope in getting a job and achieving her dreams.

As for my sister Alaa and I, we were studying at university, and we had only finished one academic year of our bachelor's degree in multimedia and web development. Unfortunately, we lost our chance to complete our education, which is one of our most basic rights, because, as many of you know, the Islamic university where we were studying was completely destroyed.

My family has been scattered because of this war as we used to be happy and everything seemed perfect before the unthinkable happened.

Genocide ripped through our lives. I lost so many loved ones, our income, and most importantly, our sense of security. We suffered a lot, especially after we were displaced from our house in Rafah city in May of 2024. Right now, we are staying in a tent in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis city, and have been for 6 months. I am writing my story from inside the tent now.

The situation is very difficult and unbearable as there is no food or water. It is only available in minimal quantities and with very high prices that we can not afford, especially after we lost our only income due to the current situation.

We are having many worries, one of them that winter is about to start, and because we displaced from our home in the summer season, we did not bring with us our belongings for winter. We did not bring clothes or blankets and now we need to buy clothes and blankets for winter and we need to buy a plastic tent, which costs $1000 and just one jacket costs $100. This is too much, especially for a big family like ours. The tent we are staying in is made of fabric, so whenever it rains, all our belongings get wet, and we shiver from the cold and rain.

The situation has really become unbearable. In order to evacuate from Gaza Strip, we must pay $5,000 per person, which means we need $55,000 to be able to live in safety. This is why I am creating this campaign and resorted to asking for your help. I hope that you will help us collect the required amount. I need your help to get out of Gaza Strip with my mother and my sisters.

I'm reaching out because even the smallest donation can make a huge difference. Can you help me continue my education and help my family find a new beginning?

Every penny counts.”