My name is Katie, I am fundraising to support a student and artist, my dear friend Leen, and her family who have been displaced and are trying rebuild their lives. Please read her message below.

My name is Leen, and I am 19 years old. I live with my family of four. For months, our lives were defined by a single, terrifying question: Where is safe?

We have endured unimaginable loss. Our family home, our belongings, our stability—everything we had built was reduced to nothing. We became refugees, displaced not once or twice, but several times, forced to abandon everything in a terrifying cycle of escape.

We faced death countless times. Each sound was a threat, each day a desperate fight for survival. There were moments when we believed it was the end. The sheer terror of losing everything you know, coupled with the agony of constant flight, has left deep, invisible wounds. We carry the heavy burden of trauma, but we also carry an unshakable will to live and to rebuild.

At 19, my life as a university student was brutally put on hold. My deepest desire is not just to survive, but to resume my academic path and earn the degree necessary to secure my family's future.

I am also an artist. Throughout the crisis, my pencil became my voice. I started documenting our reality, capturing the horror, the grief, and the resilience of my parents and my younger sibling. My art is a powerful hobby and a vital tool for advocacy—it is how I send our story to the world—but my focus remains firmly on education.

We have finally managed to escape the active conflict zone and have reached a place of temporary safety. But the battle to survive has turned into the battle to rebuild. We are in a new environment, starting completely from scratch, with no home, no income, and no certainty.

My greatest goal is to transform our survival into a stable future for my family of four.

How Your Support Rebuilds Our Lives

We need help to move past mere survival and invest in the future that was stolen from us. Your generous support will directly fund these critical, life-changing goals:

1. Immediate Stability: Securing long-term, safe accommodation to give my family a stable base for the first time in months.

2. Leen’s University Education: Providing the essential funds for tuition, books, and supplies so I can finally resume my university degree. This education is the key to supporting my family and achieving a sustainable career.

3. Brother's Schooling: Ensuring my younger sibling can be immediately enrolled in school. This is vital for his development, his sense of normalcy, and his chance at a hopeful future.

4. Essential Supplies: Covering the basic necessities like food, clothing, and essential medical care as we resettle.

1. Stability and a Home

The first thing we need is a secure place to live. We need funds to cover the rent and deposit for a modest apartment for one year. A secure home is the only way we can begin to recover from the trauma of constant movement and displacement.

2. Health and Medical Care

The crisis has taken a heavy toll on our health. We need funds to secure necessary medical check-ups, medication, and treatment for chronic and war-related health issues for my family. A stable life is impossible without stable health.

3. The Future: Education

Education is our family's only path forward. We need to secure funding for:

• My University: Covering my first-year tuition and essential supplies so I can start my degree and become a future provider for my family.

• My Brother's Schooling: Paying his school enrollment fees, uniforms, and tutoring so he can catch up on the essential schooling he lost during the war.

4. Daily Survival

While my parents search for work, we need support for basic survival. This includes funds for food, clean drinking water, basic hygiene products, and clothes for our family of five during these initial, critical months.

Every donation, every share, is a powerful act of hope. It allows a 19-year-old student and her family of four to look past the shadows of the past and start building the future they almost died trying to reach.

Thank you for giving us a chance to live, learn, and contribute again.