Help Rawan and Her Family Survive and Stay Alive

Hello, I am speaking to you, Rawan Saleh - 24 years old from the besieged Gaza Strip, currently suffering from war, famine, killings, torture, arrests, and terrifying bombings.

The last thing I thought of was to present to you a plea for survival... What happened exceeded all that one could fear one day or even what came to him in his worst nightmares.

I have lived through seven wars and a lot of suffering in the past 24 years, witnessing the endless bloodshed and fleeing from place to place and from destruction to destruction. Despite all this suffering, I graduated from Al-Azhar University - Faculty of Media a month before the war with a very good grade and ranked third in the college. I celebrated my graduation with my family on 1-9-2023.

I had a clothing project and I had ambitions and dreams to work in my field of study, practice journalism, and create comic stories. I loved Gaza, loved life, and hated sadness. But soon dreams and joys turned upside down, and I only dreamed of staying alive and breathing. I only dreamed of myself and my family!

In recent days in Gaza, things have become increasingly difficult and intense for us, with the sounds of planes and missiles killing us every time and bringing back memories of displacement and escape throughout the 139 days.

We are killed every day with every successful attempt to survive because survival inside Gaza means dying hundreds, if not thousands, of times under the war.

The threats of the occupation have increased recently with a military campaign in Rafah, which is the last area we resorted to, besieged by the occupation army from the north, east, and west. The Egyptian border is to the south, and no one can cross it except with coordination costing from $5000 to $10000 per person.

This prompted me to appeal to you for help in escaping the certain death that dominates our dreams day and night. I see my family dying a hundred times every day from the war, and I don't want to lose any of them. I want to survive with my family and have a chance to live a dignified life until the war stops and we return to our homes.

God is my witness that my family and I endured and held onto the land as much as we could, witnessing the killing of children, women, elderly, and youth in the most brutal ways with the strongest and heaviest missiles and explosives in the world. But fear overwhelmed us, and the ordeal lasted in front of the eyes of the whole world. The tent was colder than our patience, and the cost was higher than our ability. My father's illness, which cannot withstand tents, cold, and illness, was stronger than all of us.

The funds raised will go to the Egyptian authorities for me and seven members of my family to travel to Egypt and meet our basic needs there, including securing a place to live.

Family members:

1. Father: Majed Mohammed Mohammed Saleh, 60 years old

2. Mother: Mona Hussein Hassan Saleh, 52 years old

3. Myself: Rawan Majed Mohammed Saleh, 24 years old

4. Siblings:

- Ahmed Majed Mohammed Saleh, 18 years old

- Hala Majed Mohammed Saleh, 16 years old

- Tamer Majed Mohammed Saleh, 14 years old

- Mohammed Majed Mohammed Saleh, 12 years old

- Ayad Majed Mohammed Saleh, 10 years old

Details of my displacement, my family, and the life we live:

We left our house for my uncle's house on the fifth day of the war due to the danger surrounding us and the threat of the area being evacuated. On the eighth day, we left my uncle's house for Khan Yunis city in response to the Israeli army's statement that it was a safe area. On our first day there, a neighboring house was bombed, and shrapnel and stones flew at us, but we survived by God's grace. We also faced danger several times and witnessed the bombing of several houses, and we saw limbs flying before our eyes and the eyes of the children, and we survived by God's grace several times.

On the fifth of December, the occupation vehicles and tanks advanced east of Khan Yunis, and the bombing intensified everywhere, threatening the area we live in with evacuation to Rafah city. My family and I made the decision to evacuate and head to Rafah, taking the tent as shelter due to the lack of rental homes or vacant places in Rafah, which has absorbed more than a million people in an area not exceeding 64 square kilometers.

The days pass similarly, with minor differences in details. We wake up in the morning, go out in the sun, light the firewood to make tea, and after two hours, we return again to light it to make the food, which has been limited since the beginning of the war due to the scarcity of food and the high prices.

At night, the tent cannot accommodate five people, and my family of eight sleeps side by side without space between us. The blankets we have, no matter how many, do not protect us from the biting cold and winter illness.

And more details and suffering that need the words of the world to explain.

With a hopeful plea for help in survival, our only mission is to evacuate my family from the violence and destruction engulfing Gaza, and every contribution, regardless of its size, brings us closer to ensuring their safety and living a better life.

With each passing day, our situation becomes more dangerous and we approach death more. Your support is not just a lifeline, but a beacon of hope in the midst of darkness. Together, we can make a difference, and we can get my family to safety and reignite our dreams of a better future.

Your generous contribution can make a huge difference and save 8 lives from almost certain death. Every dollar brings us closer to achieving the goal, traveling as soon as possible, and survival.

We thank you in advance for every dollar you will provide...