My name is Tarek Helmy, I live in the Netherlands and I am raising funds for my friend Mohammed and his family who are living in very critical conditions. Below is their story:

Dear respected people,

Due to the conflict, we lost our home, our dream, our lab, and our livelihood. The displacement has been overwhelming, and we have become homeless. Now we are living in a tent, which is not suitable for living. We suffer from many illnesses and lack the basics of life, such as clean drinking water.

Since my childhood, I have loved my mother’s stuffed pastries. She has always dreamed of starting her own business making sweets and pastries. Over the last few years, we have been saving a large sum of money to turn this dream into reality and make our mother the happiest woman ever. Our mother’s dream was destroyed, along with all of ours.

As for me, my family has pinned their hopes on my dream. They have been waiting patiently. I was preparing for my graduation party from Engineering college, but unfortunately, I am from Gaza. My university was bombed, along with my house, my books, my dreams, my ambitions, and everything I aspired to reach. Everything was bombed and no longer exists. I did my best to make my family happy and help them improve our financial situation, but it doesn’t make sense after everything was ripped away in an instant.

My oldest family member, Ahmad, 28 years old, was always busy with his own online mobile store. He had a motorbike to deliver orders to his customers. Recently, he was planning to get married, but the war came, and our house exploded. Everything is over. Ahmad lost a piece of himself, his project, ambitions, and intentions. All he needs is to escape these horrible conditions and leave his homeland to improve his psychological state. It seems impossible to start over from the beginning; years of hard work have been lost. Just as we were about to harvest the fruits of our labor, a hurricane came and took everything away, leaving us back at the beginning.

Iman, my sister, the assistant of our family, and the cutest and kindest lady. She graduated from a Safety and Hygiene Professional College. She was always seeking to get her dream job and was on the waiting list for a steady job. But then the war came, and her dream collapsed.

Oday, the youngest one, was supposed to finish his last year of high school. He had many ambitions and dreams to achieve. He is talented in skating and gymnastics. Now, instead of focusing on his studies, he is looking for a suitable life, knowing that his education has stopped to an undefined time.

We're reaching out, not just for ourselves, but for our entire family. We're pleading for help to escape this nightmare, to find refuge and a chance to rebuild our shattered lives. We know it's a lot to ask, but we're holding onto hope that there are compassionate souls out there willing to lend a hand. Please, consider supporting us in this desperate plea for survival.

Your contributions will be allocated as follows:

Our reality in Gaza brings tears to the eyes of stones and trees, and to anyone with a living conscience. I hope that you will provide us with a helping hand so that my family and I can be safe and leave Gaza.

Thank you for donating and sharing.