Help a Family in Gaza Rebuild

Fadi Skaik and his family live in Gaza. He is a translator and English instructor. He has a wife and two children, ages 6 and 9. His father, Nabil owns a shoe store. Their apartment building was next to one destroyed by bombs, and 42 neighbors were killed. He is raising money to help his family rebuild and ensure the shoe store can survive.

Here are some of the messages he sent me during the war.

• May 11th - Sleepless days and nights here in Gaza.. The hardest bombardment ever.. No forty winks at all.. Civilians r being targeted but the Western media doesn't show the whole image 'Total blackout'!!. 2.5 million Gazans r awake now and it's 3:32am. Tomorrow is Eid Al-Fitr which comes directly after the end of Ramadan month, but we smell war smoke instead!! My 2 kids don't stop hugging me.. They tremble but i tell them it's about to finish.. They tell me, u r a lier, daddy!!

• May 16th - Targeting residential buildings and infrastructure next to my home. My family and i fled to my dad's flat. It was yesterday at 1:10am. 42 of my neighbors were killed in these massive strikes most of whom r women and children. Btw my area is one of the safest places in Gaza

• May 21st - We are all safe.. The lift isn't working now plus electrcity and water r not available due to the heavy shelling against infrastructure a week ago. Almost all my neighborhood evactuated. I fled to my dad's flat.

• May 25th - I'm too embarrassed but I'm confident that you fully understand the dire and miserable situation in here. I gave my dad $200 during the 11 days of the war to buy basic food requirements as the shop was closed. I wanted to help him more but you know my monthly loan and other family expenses I can't afford. I think you know that our annual rent is in May. We paid the owner roughly half of the amount at the first week of May then came the repeated closure due to the war. We reopened it just after ceasefire and told the owner to be patient. Still we need $3000. I know this is toooo much but I hope you can help me in setting up a call like "gofundme" or from friends.. My dad says hi and apologizes for the inconvenience.

I know Fadi via the VirtualGaza project I started in 2008, and we have corresponded since then. We helped his father's shoe shop three years ago, but the economic situation due to the latest war is untenable. Funds will be sent by Western Union to Fadi Skaik.

In solidarity,

• Josh Levinger