Help Hamza and his Family in Gaza

Hamza

Before October 7, Hamza was an active member of his community. He played volleyball for the Palestinian national team and was a third year nursing student, following proudly in his father’s footsteps. After the attacks began, Hamza was volunteering in hospitals to treat those injured. Though still a student, he was recognized as being very skilled at performing sutures, to the point where doctors asked him to do the stitching for them! His stitches are known as magic stitches, where even stitches on children’s faces are able to quickly disappear.

However due to the violence and being displaced multiple times, even Hamza’s community work during the attacks has been interrupted and he and his family have had to flee several times. Hamza’s dreams of continuing his education, caring for the health of his community, and representing Palestine internationally through volleyball have all been put on pause.

Zein El Dein

Zein is 15-years old. He is in secondary (high) school. With a talent for computers and web development, his father encouraged him to enroll in a web and software development course, which he began before October. Due to the outbreak of war, his hopes of becoming a programmer have been interrupted and his school was destroyed.

Zein also has an injured foot. Before the war, Zein was in a hit-and-run accident which broke his foot. He was treated, but the bones were put in place incorrectly. Due to the war and the fact that most doctors have either been killed or displaced, Zein has been unable to get the corrective surgery and finds it difficult to walk. He hopes to get this procedure done once the family evacuates to Egypt.

Sister Islam is the second eldest sibling in the family. She is 19 years old and had just begun her first semester of university, studying engineering. Islam is a brilliant student who earned top marks at school, which got her into the engineering program. Only a month into her studies, her university was destroyed and her education was paused. As a lover of learning and reading, she wants to be able to resume her pursuit of knowledge in peace and pursue her dreams.

Maryam and Omar

Maryam

Maryam and Omar are both children in grade school. They love drawing and going to the sea. Maryam is in grade 5 and Omar is in grade 3. Due to the war they have stopped going to school. They have been forced to grow up quickly, facing unimaginable difficulties such as losing their friends and family. They are still trying to understand why they are being displaced and why things are not like before. They deserve a normal life where they can play, make art, and enjoy the beach with their friends and family.

Talaat

Hamza’s father Talaat was pursuing a PHD in nursing, but the war halted his studies, as the university was destroyed. He has been trying to take care of his family since.

Many of Hamza and his family’s friends and loved ones have been killed, are missing under the rubble or are displaced. People who played alongside Hamza on the national volleyball team, classmates pursuing their passion for nursing, and people who volunteered selflessly at hospitals like Hamza did.

Losing these cherished people has only added to the family’s suffering, after losing their home and possessions, and being forced to evacuate multiple times.

Please donate to this beautiful family so that they can continue to purchase food, medicine, and other necessary supplies.

The Almofty family home after it was destroyed

Maryam Omar and Hamza

The family’s tent

Omar

Hamza by his tent

My name is Andrea Manica, and I am an artist based in Ontario Canada. I am running the fundraiser, and I have been in touch with Hamza online since May 2023. I will be sending all funds raised to Hamza via PayPal. Hamza’s cousin in the US was previously organizing a gofundme but unfortunately he could not manage it anymore. This is why I stepped in to help.