Help Rose save her daughter in Gaza

Hi, my name is Emmicki Roos and I'm fundraising to help my friend Rose Elmasri save her daughter Lamees who is stuck in Gaza.

I got to know Rose five years ago when I led the implementation of a women's leadership program for the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Swedish Government Agency for Peace, Security and Development. Rose is a passionate civil society leader who has dedicated her life to improving the situation for people in Gaza. Since the war broke out she and her family have been struggling to survive. While Rose recently managed to escape to Egypt with the family's younger children, she currently lacks the funds to get her daughter out of Gaza.

Lamees is a 22 year old ambitious graduate with a first class honors in math from Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Science. On the 29th of September 2023 she and her husband celebrated their wedding. Not knowing what was to come Lamees and her husband spent their savings on the wedding and their first home together. Their home was destroyed in the Israeli bombings and they are now living in very difficult circumstances, like most families in Gaza.

This is how Lamees describes some of what she has been through in recent months:

"Bombs falling close to us forced us to evacuate from Bait Hanoun to Gaza City, where we retreated to my family's apartment near Alquds Hospital at Tal Elhawa. Later, we were pursued by rockets and shells. Moving southward, we were running from death and from war, which was following us everywhere we went. We took the so-called "safe path," which required us to travel for several hours while carrying only our backpacks. We continued walking until we were exhausted. We had no choice but to live on the stairs of Al-Aishiya School in Deir Al-Balah, where there were water shortages, diseases spreading, and a loss of privacy. It was a cold, harsh, and miserable place to be living. In addition, food was hard to find or even impossible."

Lamees like other people in Gaza saw her life crumble before her eyes. Every day more relatives are killed. 183 days and counting of agony is beyond what anyone can bare.

Lamees and her husband’s situation is dire and Rose is worried that she will lose one or both of them without assistance. The price for crossing the border between Gaza and Egypt is very high, reaching more than 6,000 USD per person and life in Egypt is expensive (and especially difficult before they can legally work there). The funds will be used to pay the evacuation company Ya Hala for the crossing permit and will cover the transportation through the Sinai. Once Ya Hala has recieved the funds, they should be able to evacuate Lamees and her husband within a week.

I will send the donated funds to Rose in Cairo as it is not possible to send it directly to Gaza. Ya Hala Company requires payment in cash at its headquarters in Cairo and Rose will make the payment in cash there.

By making a contribution you can help Rose save Lamees and her husband and allow them to start a new life together in peace. Together we can ensure that Lamees story does not end here.

Thank you for your contribution and humanity.

Sincerely,

Emmicki Roos