Help Me Evacuate My Cousin's Family Out of Gaza

Co-organized

Fawzy Manaa and Iyad Manaa are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Here is what my cousin Iyad sent me, let's help him leave to Egypt. He's not currently eligible to come to Canada, although he'll attempt to apply for a work visa once he's safe with his family in Egypt.

From Iyad:

My name is Iyad R. Manaa, I live in Gaza Strip in Palestine with my wife Raghda and my two children Amir and Tamer, our life was very peaceful and calm before the war in Gaza began in 7th of October 2023.

"Dad, I miss the warmth of my bed in my new room", says Amir, my 9-years-old son. "Mom, where are my new toys you bought for me? I've only played with them a few times", wonders Tamer, my 6-years-old son. With these innocent words, we faced our sons, Amir and Tamer, a few days after the destruction of the building where our beautiful apartment was located. We spent 10 peaceful years in this 11 floors tall building, from the days of our quiet and beautiful life before our lives turned upside down on the day of horror and panic on October 8, 2023. We heard the neighbors rushing down the stairs of our building, where more than 70 families, including my mother's family with my younger brother in a separate apartment lived and my elder brother`s family in another separate apartment. We rushed with them immediately without gathering any of our belongings. My wife held Amir's hand, while I carried our youngest son Tamer, down the stairs of the building, filled with fear and terror until we reached outside the tower, far away from it. Ten minutes later, we heard the terrifying explosion and saw our building, which held our beautiful memories and big dreams, collapsing before our eyes, shattering our hopes and aspirations for a better future for us and our children.

This sad day marked the beginning of a horror series in our family life, which has now reached episode 135 as of the writing of these words. Yes, it has been

135 days of fear and terror in our lives and the lives of our young children, as we hear and witness daily bombardment and explosions of various types of missiles flying in our sky without interruption. Tanks' cannons penetrate all parts of the Gaza Strip, and warships spread along the coast overlooking the Gaza Strip.

A week after our apartment in the building was destroyed, we evacuated to Khan Yunis, and as the ground incursion approached Khan Yunis, we evacuated a month before writing these words to the last refuge where the borders of the Gaza Strip end, Rafah city, the only city that has not been entered by the Israeli army by land yet. However, the threats by the Israeli army continue, indicating the imminent entry of the army into this densely populated city, where more than a million displaced people live in dire conditions lacking the most basic human needs.

135 days until the date of writing these words, we have been deprived of water, electricity, fuel of all kinds, including car fuel, cooking fuel, and heating fuel, as well as food that comes only in the form of scarce canned food, making us eat only one meal a day.

Do you know what it feels like when your young child asks you for a bag of chips or a chocolate bar or juice, and you tell him it's not available, son! This simple matter makes you feel helpless in front of your innocent child who is used to you providing him with all his favorite children's needs and toys. He does not understand the meaning of the unavailability of these needs at the present time due to the war. Children do not even know the meaning of war; it's a new word to them in their innocent childhood vocabulary!

135 days, and we sleep on the ground covered with few blankets that do not protect us from the severe winter cold, which usually reaches its peak during these days.

135 days of suffering from the high prices of vegetables and basic life necessities, which have reached 10 times the normal price!

135 days of depriving children of their education in their schools. My first-grade son Tamer asked me, "Dad, when will I go back to my beautiful school?"Amir, my fourth-grade son, replied to him, "The school was bombed, Tamer". So, both of them wondered, "How will we continue our education afterwards?"

This is the question that my wife and I couldn't answer our children.

135 days of being unable to work, as I work as a computer engineer in a local company in Gaza. The company's work has stopped, and my only income has stopped as well.

135 days of fear and terror for the future of our family and our unknown fate.

With your support, my friends and brothers in humanity, my family and I will be able to escape from this dark reality and transition to a brighter future in another country where we can overcome the crises we have suffered. We need to pay $5,000 for each adult person and $2,500 for each child to cross the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and the state of Egypt and extra $3,000 of travelling costs which means only we need $18,000 in total to survive.

With your generous help, we can collect this amount and cross the Rafah borders and start a new safe life in another country.

We kindly ask for your support in this difficult time. Any contribution, no matter how small, will make a significant impact on our journey towards a new beginning. Your kindness and generosity will be forever appreciated.

To provide more context, our story has been covered by various news outlets, adding authenticity to our plea for help:

Eyad