Hello, my name is Bahaa Eleyan, and I am fundraising for my dear friend Ahmed Fayyad and his family of five, who have been displaced for nearly two years now.

I have known Ahmed since we were 15. Back then, our hopes for the future were high, and our belief in the power of youth to effect change was strong. Today, it breaks me to witness Ahmed and his family struggling simply to stay alive, while I am far away in Norway, unable to directly help him, my family, and so many others enduring this nightmare.

Gaza has always known war, but genocide is another level of dehumanization: daily, endless suffering, with death constantly raining from the skies.

Ahmed and his family were first displaced from northern Gaza in November 2023. After months of moving between overcrowded shelters in Rafah, they attempted to rebuild some sense of life. But with Israel’s ongoing bombardment and forced displacements, survival has become an exhausting, day-to-day battle.

At first, the goal of this fundraiser was to help Ahmed and his family evacuate Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. But with the blockade tightening and the borders destroyed, this is no longer possible. Now, the funds have become essential for something even more urgent: daily survival amidst the destruction of Gaza’s life systems—water, food, electricity, shelter, and healthcare.

Ahmed is an actor, someone who dedicated his life to culture and storytelling in Gaza, despite the impossible economic conditions for artists. But right now, passion and dreams are luxuries. For months, he and his family have had no income, relying only on aid distributions, crowded shelters, and whatever they can scrape together to survive.

When I once asked Ahmed in 2024 to describe an ordinary day under genocide, he told me:

“At 7 am I take the dough to the bakery and wait in line until noon. Then I carry all the batteries and phones to a supermarket where I can charge them, if there’s electricity. After that, I go for water—two more hours in line. Later, I search the market for a little food, whatever is available or affordable. Then I try to get some aid, maybe beans or tuna, from a shelter. By evening, I’m exhausted, but the night is only beginning—with bombardments that never let us rest.”

This has been Ahmed’s reality for nearly two years now, and it has only grown worse. He and his family are exhausted, traumatized, and facing an uncertain future with no safe way out.

Your support can make a direct difference, helping Ahmed and his family meet their most basic needs: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. This is not charity, but solidarity in the face of systematic attempts to erase life in Gaza.

Please contribute what you can, and just as importantly, help us share Ahmed’s story within your networks. Every act of support helps carry him and his family through another day.

With gratitude,

Bahaa

On behalf of Ahmed and his family

Updated on 26 Sep 2025