Hello, my name is Farah, which means “joy” in Arabic. I’m 18 years old and I live in Gaza – a place where dreams are constantly under siege, but where I still hold onto mine with unwavering hope.

Since I was a child, I have dreamed of completing my education and building a better future for myself, my family, and my community. I have always been a top student in my class, with hopes of becoming a doctor, a teacher, or an engineer — someone who can make Gaza proud.

But this year, the war in Gaza has robbed me of even the chance to sit for my final high school exams. I’m writing this while the sounds of airstrikes still echo around me. I was supposed to take my exams alongside my best friend Shahd. We used to study together every day, clinging to the hope of a ceasefire, dreaming of starting university together.

When a partial truce was announced, Shahd returned to her home in northern Gaza. On March 18, during the first night of resumed bombing, Shahd and 11 members of her family were killed.

In Gaza today, there are only two kinds of girls my age: the ones still trying to survive — like me — and the ones who couldn’t — like Shahd.

I often wonder what the hardest day has been for me during thisays I couldn’t find sanitary products during my period? Or was it the day I sat at my desk trying to study when an Israeli drone hovered at my window, and I shut it in terror before running away?

I’m reaching out to ask for your help — not just for survival, but for a chance to study, to hope, and to live. Your support can help me cover basic needs: food for my younger siblings, hygiene products, study materials, electricity, internet, and — one day, I hope — university tuition.

I don’t know if I will ever be able to leave Gaza, but I do believe that I still deserve a future. I believe I still deserve joy — just like my name.

Please, help me make that possible.

With love and hope,

Farah