Fundraising for my friend and her family in Gaza

I am Saadia, from Mississauga, Canada. I am reaching out today on behalf of a friend and her family in Gaza. Respecting the family’s request to maintain their privacy, I will not be sharing their names or photos here. After 6 months of losing material possessions and facing an increasing threat to their lives, it is with much difficulty that my friend has requested for this plea to be made on her behalf.

I understand that kind donors would want to be sure that their donations are being used for the intended purpose and so I am happy to answer any specific questions. Please contact me directly. Please note that given this family has lost everything and their lives are in danger, they are considered eligible for receiving zakat.

My friend and her family lived in Gaza City until the start of the aggression. Their home has since been destroyed in bombings. Over the past six months, this family, like numerous other Gazan families, was first displaced to Rafah, where they took shelter in a friend’s house along with several other people. The family was displaced once again out of Rafah and is currently taking shelter in a house in central Gaza.

My friend has three children, between the ages of 15 and 20. The family had a small business. They have lost everything, but thankfully they have each other. My friend, who teaches Arabic, recently resumed teaching virtually in order to have some sense of normalcy in the midst of frequent and daily bombardment. She teaches whenever she has some internet connection available.

When I get a chance to speak to her over WhatsApp, I can hear bombardment in the background. It is very unsettling that we can hear each other’s voices across the same planet, but her voice is surrounded by sounds of literal destruction.

Over the past 6 months, a remarkable characteristic we have observed via social media among Palestinians in Gaza is their unshakeable faith in Allah and their steadfastness. My friend and her family are no different. They maintain their complete trust in Allah. But with no end in sight to daily bombardment, with constant threat to their lives, with no clear future for the children, my friend is grappling with the difficult decision of evacuating her family from her homeland.

For us looking in from the outside, we cannot imagine the urgency of the situation. The aggression worsens every day and with the impending ground invasion of Rafah, my friend is desperate to find safety before it is too late.

My friend is trying to evacuate her family to Cairo, Egypt. The distance between Rafah (southern tip of the Gaza Strip) and Cairo is just about 400 km. Similar to the distance between Toronto and Ottawa. But arranging for the journey from Gaza to Cairo is far more difficult and costly.

My friend hopes to be able to cover part of the expected costs of travelling and resettling. Please note this recent CBC article (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gaza-war-egypt-bribes-1.7152653) giving a sense of the costs Gazans face (costs are quoted in both Canadian and US dollars). I'm providing here an estimated breakdown of the expected costs for evacuating and resettling (in Canadian Dollars).

- Hala Egyptian travel agency to evacuate the family out of Gaza: as of April 3, this cost is expected to be $C40,600 (please note that the cost per person keeps fluctuating between 5,000-10,000 USD)

- Re-settlement expenses (for the first month until they are able to find a house and work):

- Rent apartment / hotel stay: maximum CAD$2,000 for 1 month

- Basic living necessities + personal essentials upon arriving to Cairo: approximately CAD$1,000 for 1 month

- Purchasing a permanent residential house/apartment (approximately CAD$40,000)

With the intention of providing my friend the necessary funds for evacuation, I am looking to raise a part of the above costs, approximately CAD$43,000 of the total breakdown above.

With every little bit of help from you, we can offer my friend and her family a future with hope, security, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives in peace.

Please consider contributing to this cause. Thank you so much for any support you can provide.