Help Ghada and her family survive and rebuild their lives

Hello, my name is Yomna, and I am from the UK. I am fundraising on behalf of my dear friend Ghada and her family of six.

This is her heartbreaking story:

I am Ghada Abu Shanab, 39, from Gaza City. I am a divorced mother of three daughters; the eldest is 13, the middle one is 11, and the youngest is 9. Despite countless struggles, I found a way to stand on my feet by working from home, translating documentaries and offering private tutoring. This allowed me to support my family and pay the instalments on our house, which was tragically bombed along with all our precious belongings. We lived in Tal Al-Hawa, a place we called home, where my daughters and I cared for my sick mother, who desperately needs knee replacement surgery. Before the war, she had a failed back surgery, and the harsh displacement conditions further deteriorated her health, causing high blood pressure and diabetes, making the tent life unbearable for her.

When the genocide began in October, violent bombings forced us to flee our home in Tal Al-Hawa to the south. We left everything behind, fleeing for our lives. My daughters ran barefoot, their feet bloodied. We now survive on unhealthy canned food and wake up at 5 a.m. to queue for hours for clean water. My daughters and I carry heavy jugs of water back to our tent, which offers only thin mattresses and unbearable heat. We have no access to hygiene products and struggle to maintain basic self-care needs for myself and my daughters

During our escape, we sought refuge at Al-Quds Hospital. After the hospital was besieged, amidst relentless bombing, sniper fire, and quadcopter attacks, we barely escaped with our lives to the Al-Swedi clinic. During the siege, bullets narrowly missed my head, nearly ending my life.

Living in the tent has been a nightmare. We were besieged in Al-Suwaidi Al-Nasr, bombed, and terrorized as we had been in Tal Al-Hawa and Al-Quds Hospital. My children and I endured these fears, the exhaustion of fleeing, and severe shortages of food and water. We contracted hepatitis but were thankfully treated. From Al-Suwaidi Al-Nasr, we contacted the Red Cross, who coordinated our escape to the south, navigating the sounds of drones and tanks to Kuwait Square, through inspections and cattle chutes, only to face new suffering in the south.

Despite everything, I cling to hope for a better future. With your support, you can help save our lives and ensure my mother receives the urgent treatment she needs. Your generosity can turn our hope into reality.

Please help us rebuild our lives and find a safehaven.