Rawaa’s life changed in a single, terrifying moment.

A sudden and severe medical crisis struck without warning: dangerously high intracranial pressure caused by fluid buildup in her brain. She was rushed into emergency brain shunt surgery, a procedure that saved her life but left her with significant neurological challenges. In Lebanon, where the medical system is stretched beyond its limits, there is no government assistance, no disability support, and no insurance safety net. When catastrophe hits, families are left completely on their own.

And Rawaa’s family has been fighting this battle alone.

We are her only lifeline.

After surgery, Rawaa spent days in critical condition. She survived, but the aftermath has been profound. She is now in a rehabilitation center relearning how to speak, how to walk, how to remember, how to perform even the simplest daily tasks. The woman who once carried heavy sacks of dog food, cleaned kennels, and rebuilt shelter enclosures with her bare hands is now working tirelessly just to regain control of her body and mind.

Yet even now, her heart remains unchanged.

Through moments of confusion and exhaustion, Rawaa still asks about her animals.

Who Rawaa Is — and Why This Matters So Deeply

Rawaa is not just a patient. She is the beating heart behind Bekaa Rescue & Shelter, the only animal shelter serving her region of Lebanon.

She built it from nothing: no funding, no structure, no institutional support, only her compassion, her resilience, and her refusal to abandon even one suffering animal.

Under Rawaa’s care are dozens of rescued dogs and cats currently housed at the shelter, along with hundreds more street animals she feeds regularly across surrounding towns and villages. These animals survive because of her, because she shows up every day with food, medicine, and love when no one else will.

Beyond rescue, Rawaa has been tirelessly working to spay and neuter stray animals, often paying out of pocket, to reduce the overwhelming cycle of suffering caused by unchecked pet overpopulation. She has prevented countless litters from being born into hunger, abuse, and disease.

When others turned away, Rawaa stepped forward.

Now, as she fights to recover, those animals have no one else.

Her family is doing absolutely everything they can to keep the shelter running, feeding animals, administering medications, coordinating care, but without Rawaa’s physical presence and leadership, and while facing crushing medical bills, it is becoming nearly impossible to sustain.

Her Medical Costs Are Devastating — and There Is No Help

Rawaa’s rehabilitation stay alone has exceeded $40,000, an astronomical amount in a country experiencing economic collapse, where wages have lost nearly all value and medical care must be paid in cash, upfront.

And the costs don’t stop there:

There is:

Every dollar spent to keep Rawaa alive and healing is a dollar taken from already-limited resources meant to keep animals fed and sheltered.

We are her only chance at recovery — and her animals’ only chance at survival.

This Fundraiser Supports Two Urgent, Life-or-Death Needs

Rawaa has saved hundreds of lives through her compassion. She has given everything she has to protect the voiceless.

Now, she needs us.

She needs you.

And the animals she has devoted her life to saving need all of us.

Any amount helps.

Every share matters.