Help Raghda & Family Evacuate Gaza

My name is Raghda, 23, from the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Some of my family came here from Gaza City, when they were forced to evacuate. Now we are a family of twelve, living together in a small apartment.

We live under frequent bombardment. We need to get out of Gaza to a safer place. We lack healthy and clean food, but food is scarce now and very expensive. Most of the foods that we normally eat are not available at all, and our current diet is severely inadequate. My little brothers sometimes walk for kilometers in search of water, risking confrontation with IDF soldiers and snipers.

We face some serious health issues also. My father Tawfiq is chronically ill, suffering from heart problems and blood clots in his feet and hands. My sister Esra is married and pregnant with her first child, so she needs health care that is no longer available. Our hospitals are either destroyed, or severely damaged, overcrowded, and acutely short-staffed.

Because of this war, my brothers have not been able to go to school at all this year. They need to resume their education. Now, we struggle to keep them distracted and protected from the physical dangers and intense psychological pressures that we face every day. We sleep and wake up to the sounds of drones, helicopters, and fighter jets and the explosions of their missiles and bombs.

We ask those with compassionate hearts to help me and my family get out of Gaza. Unlike so many others, I have not yet lost any family members, but we cannot know, from one hour to the next, when we might be killed.

We deeply appreciate any amount of money that you can afford to donate for the sake of our freedom.

Thank you,

Raghda

Names and years of birth

Tawfeq Awwad Abu Jrayda, 1964

Ghada Faraj Abu Jrayda, 1973

Islam Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 1993

Esraa Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 1994

Ekhlas Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 1996

Mohammed Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 1998

Raghda Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 1998

Sujood Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 2002

Ali Tawfiq Abu Jrayda, 2008

Mustafa Abu Jrayda

Abdul Rahman Abu Jrayda

Sama Abu Jrayda

About the organizer

As-salamu alaykum, the peace be onto you, brother and sister. My name is Angel and I am fundraising out of Saint Louis, Missouri, on behalf of Raghda and her family.

Before the war, Raghda and her sister Sujood, 22, were studying English at the Dr. Omar Training and Media Center, in the city of Rafah. Raghda dreamed of attending university and becoming a teacher. She loves working with kids, and she used to help her little sister Sama, 10, with her homework. Sujood wants to be a nurse, and Sama wants to be a doctor and save lives. More than anything, Raghda wanted to get a job that allowed her to help her family. Unfortunately for her, her parents could not afford to pay for her college education.

In 2022, I became aware of her plight, and I offered to sponsor her education as a way to empower her and give her a chance to achieve her goals, including being able to help her family financially. She did not disappoint me, and she always strived to obtain the best marks in her studies, which she proudly shared with me. She calls me "Uncle Angel".

As you all know the war broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023, throwing the lives of over two million Palestinians into chaos. Overnight, dreams were completely shattered or put on hold indefinitely, as the need for survival took preeminence over everything else.

My appeal to you is that you consider giving this beautiful family the opportunity to save their lives. According to different media articles, it costs between $5,000 and $10,000 USD per person to cross the border into Egypt. It is tremendously sad that the lives of people ultimately have a price in this inhumane and cruel world, and the price for this family is such that they cannot pay for it. A family of twelve, they would need somewhere around $60,000 in travel fees to escape the carnage in the Gaza Strip. They would not be able to bring much more than a few essential belongings with them, so any funds left after money conversions and transfer fees, which in my experience are between 20 and 30 percent, could be used to pay for their most immediate needs, such as shelter, food and medicines. Currently, the ways to send money to Gaza are very limited. I am planning to send the money through Western Union or MoneyGram directly to the family.

Please, I exhort you to not look away from this page, and give some hope to this family. Any little bit of help can go a long way.

Shukran (thank you).

Update: Raghda and her family are preparing to evacuate Rafah. They are heading to Khan Younis but their journey is uncertain at this moment. Wish them luck.