Hello , my is Alberto , I am a citizen of the U.S. living in Michigan and I am doing whatever I can to help the people in Palestine .

This is a messsge from Aya:

I know the road ahead is long, but I still believe that kindness exists in this world. With your support, I hope I can continue my medical studies and build a future that honors everything my family has survived.

This is my story… and what the war has done to my life.

My name is Aya, I’m 19 years old from Gaza. I was in my final year of high school, ready to start my dream of studying medicine, when the war changed my life completely. My family lost our income, and we faced hunger, fear, and sickness.

During the famine, I created a donation link that helped me provide food for my family and allowed my parents and siblings to leave Gaza briefly so they could receive medical care. My mother is currently fighting cancer, my father’s hand was injured, and my little siblings, Mira and Youssef, are still trying to understand a world that became dangerous overnight.

I stayed in Gaza, trying to keep things together as much as I could.

The war took more than our home and safety. I lost my beloved cat my little companion and I lost some of the closest people to my heart: my uncle, my cousin, and neighbors who once felt like family. Loss became something we tasted too often.

But one moment shaped my future forever. When our neighbors’ home was bombed, my sister and my cousin were badly injured. I stopped their bleeding and tried to keep them alive until the ambulance arrived. The medic looked at me and said,

“You’re helping everyone… and forgetting you’re wounded too.”

That was the moment I understood that medicine wasn’t just a dream it was who I am.

Today, after a fragile ceasefire, I volunteer at a small children’s space not a real kindergarten, because it was destroyed. We try to bring back the smiles that war stole, giving the kids a little piece of childhood and a place where they can finally feel safe again.

All I need now is a chance to continue my medical education, leave Gaza safely, and find a place where I can learn and build a future. One day, I hope to return as a doctor who can heal others with steady hands and a heart shaped by compassion and loss.

Every contribution, no matter how small, truly makes a difference.

Thank you for helping me continue.