Hope Beyond borders: empowering lives from Gaza
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My name is Mona, and I’m on a mission to secure funding for my nieces Fatima, Menna, and Raghd Marwan Shaat. They urgently need to leave Gaza to pursue their education, but financial constraints stand in their way.
Listen closely to their voices:
“Hello, world! Wherever you are reading this,
we are three sisters from Gaza.
We’re launching this campaign because we refuse to be just numbers. We believe in the power of education to transform lives. Each of us has dreams and aspirations, but without your support, they remain out of reach.”
Join us in ensuring that Fatima, Menna, and Raghd have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves. Your contribution will make a tangible difference in their lives and empower them to pursue their dreams.
I'm Fatima Elzahraa Marwan Shaat.
I study law with a specialization in English language at Al-Azhar University. I'm supposed to be in my third year. I achieved a 98.3% in my final year of high school, ranking among the top students in my school. Pursuing law has always been my childhood dream and passion, which only grew stronger as I got older, until I finally became a law student.
I began volunteering with human rights organizations such as Al-Mezan and Al-Dameer, giving educational workshops on human rights because I believe that girls should have a voice in this world and should know their rights so they can demand them. I was also part of the Youth Diplomacy Program, the first of its kind in Gaza, where I was the youngest member. I'm also a writer for the "We Are Not Numbers" program, where I published two stories, and I was a speaker in a webinar in partnership with Palestine Deep Dive. However, my activities and passion were interrupted by the war. I lost my university and all the institutions where I volunteered. All my dreams of building a strong personal foundation were shattered. Everywhere disappeared, and continuing my education here became impossible. So, I searched for scholarships and I'm on the verge of getting a seat at a university abroad with a scholarship.
- The only thing separating me from this opportunity is the financial burden of leaving Gaza and the associated costs,due to the difficult financial situation in Gaza.
As for my sister MennatAllah,
she is three years younger than me. She should have been in her final year of high school. Menna is ambitious and passionate since childhood. She is the head of the school parliament and a member of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. She also knows sign language for people with special needs and excels in writing and folkloric dance. Menna aspired to finish high school with a high GPA like mine and pursue a major in English language and translation. However, with the arrival of the war, my sister Menna was left stranded, unable to progress. Therefore, we want Menna to leave Gaza to find a suitable educational opportunity and not lose more years.
As for our youngest sister, Raghad Elhaya,
she is also in her final year of middle school, in ninth grade. Raghad knows she's very smart and loves drawing, folkloric dance, and science. She has always been outstanding among her peers, always chosen to represent the school in important events. She also excels in English and aspires to become a doctor in the future as Like our eldest sister Laila, who is studying medicine at Ain Shams University in Egypt, in her fourth year. But with the collapse of education, all of this seems far from her dreams.
We were a family that loved activities and volunteer work.
My father always emphasized to us, his daughters, that we should be something important in society, not just numbers. From a young age, we were involved in community and humanitarian work, visiting the elderly and orphans, providing assistance to them. Additionally, my father used to write plays, and we would act them out.
Here is a link to our plays performed in English:
- Our lives before the war were full of dreams. Our home was peaceful, dreamy, and ambitious, loving to help others. Now, our neighborhood is destroyed, the street unrecognizable after bombings. Our neighbors' homes are damaged, and danger looms every day.
- At the same time, life has become a struggle to get water, electricity, and everything else in Gaza has become extremely difficult and especially now they are telling they want to invade Rafah and if this happen we will be left for death and nothing to do.
We love Gaza deeply; it's where we belong. But we want to fulfill our dreams and ambitions to be able to help Gaza, which we love dearly, someday. That's why we need your help.
- We want your help because we are not just numbers. We are girls who believe that we can make an impact in this world, and we believe that our voices should reach the whole world. We lost our lives in the war; we lost ourselves, our dreams, and our aspirations. We grew up believing that we should leave a mark on the world.
We want your help to evacuate me, my sisters, and our mother to Egypt. Help us overcome the only obstacle, which is the financial burden.
Every attempt, donation, and share of this link will be hope for us. It will bring us closer to our dream, and one day,
- we will help students like us who refuse to let go of their dreams.
- We want to be an inspiration for girls someday, showing them not to give up on their dreams despite the circumstances. We want them to always hold onto their dreams because we believe they can always achieve them.
Every dollar means hope for us. Thank you to everyone who reads and shares our story.
Here you can find :
*Fatima's published stories (i wish that December was all about rain.)
* second published story:
*Meeting with Palestine Deep Dive talking about Palestine
*A Drive where you can find my two recommendation letters from my teachers:
Where the donations will go?
- Co-ordination for three adults costs(between 5000 to 6000 per person according Halla co-ordination.)so about 18000$.
- Co-ordination one non-adult cost 3000$.
- passports issuance=400$
- Rented house and living expenses for about 2 to 6 months in Egypt 500 $ about 3000$
- Trying to get Menna and Raghd at a private school about 5000$.
And we will let you updated where this money will go.
Organizer
Mona Alqadi
Organizer
Chandler, AZ
