Who is Mahmoud?

Mahmoud graduated as a full stack software engineer in 2018. He found work with his qualifications but he lives in Gaza and in the winter of 2023 his house was bombed by Israeli forces and he was forced into a tent with his wife, two young children, and elderly parents. His father sadly passed away last year due to the effects of malnutrition. The rest of the family has been moving around Gaza trying to stay safe ever since. Currently they are living in the only accommodation available; a half destroyed, small warehouse which lacks a complete bathroom and some exterior walls.

“I was living a happy life in the warmth of my home with my wife, my eleven-year-old son, and my seven-year-old daughter. But suddenly, everything fell apart. Our family was forced to leave and head south in search of safety and security. We were haunted by hope and the dream of a swift return and an end to this raging war, but after three months, at the end of December 2023, news reached us that our house had been bombed and reduced to rubble. The three spacious rooms were now nothing but piles of stones. My son’s books, bag, bed, wardrobe, and favorite sports shoes had turned to dust. As for my daughter, who had just begun school, she could no longer find her bag, pencil case, or toys. She still asks me “Will we ever have a home again, Baba?”

What is the money for?

We have already (as of January 2026) raised £1650 which has been absolutely invaluable and kept this family going. This was spent on a car to transport the family to safety (from the north to Deir al-Balah), clothes for the children, shoes for the family, treatment for Mahmoud’s father, food, drinking water, firewood, some kitchen/cooking equipment (cups, saucers, trays), and most recently a water tank and some essential vitamin supplements. Now, with the situation being relatively more stable, Mahmoud can potentially return to working and provide for his family. This is all he has wanted since this ordeal began, however he no longer has the equipment to be able to do so, and this is what we are raising the money for. Mahmoud does not want to continue living from donations, and is more than capable of putting his expertise to good use and paying for everything his family needs but in order to do so, he needs a laptop and a phone.

With a little more aid and essentials now coming into Gaza there is now the possibility of buying these two items within Gaza but this kind of thing is still very expensive. When we have raised the money necessary to buy both a laptop and mobile phone, Mahmoud will be able to find work as a web developer specialising in PHP (Laravel and CodeIgniter) and Node.js, and perform data analysis using the PI tool. He is experienced and competent and we are all confident that he will find work when he has the equipment he needs.

Who is behind this fundraiser?

My name is Fiona and I am an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher. I teach adults and in 2018/19 I worked on a project with Language Beyond Borders, partnering with Gaza Sky Geeks (a Mercy Corps programme) to teach English to graduates of their software engineering training. Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) took university graduates and trained them to be full stack software engineers before then also helping them to find work and/or further training and placements with international organisations and companies working online. In this way, graduates were able to circumvent the blockade and earn for themselves and their families.

I have stayed in touch with several of the learners from this project. Tragically, at least three have been killed, and all are struggling to keep themselves and their families going through this genocide. Mahmoud is one such former learner.

When I was coordinating classes for Mahmoud's cohort he took on a sort of spokesperson role for the other students. I didn't know anything about day to day life in Gaza then or the social norms, and there were elements of my planning that made it difficult for some learners to attend classes. He advised me in the kindest and most diplomatic of ways and the consequence was increased attendance in his cohort and more learners graduating the course. He is a technically competent software engineer, a good team player, great communicator, and generally a very decent human being. His kids are adorable.