Help Muhannad See His Mother

Hello, my name is Ryker, and I'm trying to help my dad and siblings see his mother again before it's too late, and have the means to be able to spend a little time with his young children after a life of struggling. I want to help Muhannad pull himself out of this hole and get a fresh start on life, so that he has the time to build a relationship with my two young siblings.

Muhannad is a first generation Palestinian exile and immigrant, who was only an infant when his family - including his infant twin - was displaced and fled to Kuwait. After growing up there, his parents saved money to be able to send him to America in the hopes of getting a degree and a decent paying job so that that he could try to find a better life for his family. Not knowing a word of English besides 'Big Mac', Mo ate McDonald's until he became sick of it while he studied to learn the language and become a civil engineer. Unflagging generosity has always been his greatest strength and flaw. From the beginning he has always lived for others, trying to provide for his family - here and overseas - as best he could to his own detriment, never really living a life for himself.

Before I was born, his father back in Jordan was struck by a heart attack. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to return to see his father before he died, his family didn't tell him about his condition until after he had passed. Muhannad never got to say goodbye to his own father. Although it was well meaning, this broke something in my dad's soul. Never wanting to again be the child that wasn't there, he has always been the first to answer to his mom's needs ever since his father passed, and never managed to earn enough to build himself a safety net while taking care of his mother as well.

Muhannad has always struggled with chronic health issues, including lifelong fibromyalgia, undiagnosed ADHD, and sleep apnea among others. Since 2014, my father has struggled with mounting health complications, including the need for dental surgery which he could not afford in the US, and had to return to Jordan to have done - but the problems have since returned, without the money to address it. Since his divorce from his second wife, he has had to spend thousands of dollars to get the courts to enforce the parenting plan so that he can keep in contact with his two younger children and have time with them as a father. He's struggled through getting COVID, behind on bills and rent, and the sum of all this stress has significantly impacted his mental and physical health and ability to work to pay those bills.

While he has steadfastly paid all child support in a timely manner since the divorce, because of all this, his passport has been locked by the state due $24,000 in back maintenance he has been unable to pay. At the same time, his aging mother's health is failing. Teta is a cancer survivor and has recently contracted COVID, and has been begging him for years to find a way to visit so that she can see him again. Muhannad hasn't seen his mother in 7 years.

He didn't get to see his father before it was too late. I want to give him the chance to see his mom. Unfortunately, the state refuses to release his passport, despite the fact that this whole life is here, until back maintenance is caught up, for fear of 'fleeing' his obligations - a man who has never hesitated to take on the obligations of others his entire life.

If we can raise $25,000, Muhannad will be able to pay that back maintenance to the state and get his passport released so that he has the possibility of seeing his mother. Anything beyond that will help pay for the trip and stay financially afloat while he continues to work to stabilize his life, and allow him the opportunity to breath easy even if for just a moment, and spend more time with his children he loves so much.

My father has supported me as best he was able my entire life. It would mean the world to me if I were able to manage to give back to him even in as small a way as this, and give him the chance to be the same father for my siblings as he was for me.