Hammad family survival in Egypt
Donation protected
I am Betsy Wright from Ontario Canada and I'm raising funds for my friend Bilal and his family.
Meet the Hammad family — father Bilal, wife Amira, and children Hala (age 11) and Hassan (age 9). Hardship is not strong enough a word to describe this family’s experience in the last year. They were displaced — violently uprooted from their warm family home, their refuge, leaving behind everything they owned…each comfort, each necessity, each family heirloom and memory. Then, this loving home was destroyed—obliterated into rubble. Nothing remained. Worse still, their precious 8 month old baby Kamel was killed. Amira, who has cancer AND had been pregnant at the time, miscarried from sheer traumatic stress. Hala lost some of her eyesight because of white phosphorus. The list goes on.
In addition to their family of 4, these campaign funds continuously support Bilal’s parents, Amira’s family, and 6 other families who don’t have campaigns. Bilal has also supported relatives and friends in need of temporary support.
Thankfully, the Hammad family evacuated Gaza on May 6 - just ONE day before the Rafah invasion that shut down the border indefinitely. Bilal’s parents and 3 of his siblings and their families remained trapped.To put it plainly, life does not suddenly become easy, even after families evacuate Gaza.
They face extortion, discrimination, exploitation, and neglect — while simultaneously trying to heal their bodies, minds, and spirits from what they have endured in Gaza. For example, it’s a common occurrence for landlords in Egypt to increase a rental price when they hear the prospective tenant is from Gaza.
They need YOUR HELP to cover costs:
- Ongoing medical treatment for the whole family (cancer, vision, blood pressure, psychological) Note: the treatment at the public hospitals in Cairo is abhorrent, so families seek out private hospitals which are much more expensive
- Monthly bills: rent, utilities, phone/internet
- Living expenses: groceries, housewares (like cooking utensils), personal items (like clothing, shoes, and toiletries), transportation
- Education costs for Hala and Hassan as they grow
- Support for their other family members still trapped in Gaza
- Support for their other family members struggling with them in Egypt
- Expenses for the immigration process to eventually seek asylum in Canada (airfare, immigration attorney, fees, living costs)
- Transfer fees and commissions for money transfers
For transparency: The Hammad family previously had a fundraising campaign that Bilal used to successfully support their evacuations and the survival costs of his large family in Gaza, as well as the extensive medical treatment and living expenses they’ve needed since they have been living in Egypt. Why did we make them a new campaign? Bilal’s friend Mariah could no longer run it for personal reasons, but as a US resident, she could only transfer the existing campaign to another US resident. I (Betsy) am from Canada, so we decided as a group that this was the easiest solution.
Old campaign: https://gofund.me/40acf26c
How the money will be securely transferred: Your generous donations will be deposited into my Canadian-based bank account. I will then send the funds to Bilal via his younger brother Banan via Paypal, who is also in Egypt for post-evacuation medical treatment.
NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL! Please share the Hammad family’s campaign far and wide with you family, fiends, coworkers
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Bilal’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abohassan7472?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
My instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betsywright3628?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
Mariah’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahpariah12/profilecard/?igsh=bnFrOXFsaXBycGV2
Organizer
Betsy Wright
Organizer