Hello my name is Jacky(27) from the Netherlands and i am fundraising for my friend Tasneem. Below is her story:

"I was on the doorstep of my dream... then war opened the door to pain."

My name is Tasneem Saeed Al-Yazji, a Palestinian girl from Gaza.I live with my mom(37), my dad(49) and my three sisters. I am 19 years old, my sisters are rahma 18, nasma 16 , and rimas 14. I graduated from high school with a score of 95.6%. I was preparing to travel and study medicine, my dream was clear: to become a doctor, to heal wounds, to give hope where there is none. But the war… shattered everything.

One morning, the bombs woke us up. Instead of opening my books, I found them buried under the rubble. Our home was completely destroyed. We were displaced and forced to live in a tent — a piece of fabric that doesn’t keep out the cold or the heat.

In winter, we drowned… literally. Rainwater seeped through the tent, soaking everything: our clothes, our blankets, our tired bodies. There was no heater, no warm place just cold that reached deep into our bones.

My father, our family’s backbone, was severely injured in the head. He had to undergo surgery to implant a plastic skull. He is now disabled, unable to work or even move easily. His eyes hold the kind of pain words can’t describe.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the war took more from us my grandfather and my uncle were killed, with no chance to say goodbye, no proper burial.

My sister was also injured and couldn't get the proper care, so her leg now has platinum implants, and every step she takes is painful.

We are a family of six, with no brothers to support us and no extended family to turn to. We survive day by day, living on charity meals and telling ourselves: “We are surviving.”

But truthfully, we are breaking in silence.

I had dreams of continuing my education. Some universities offer online study programs, but they require payments — and I simply can’t afford them.

Prices in the market are unbelievably high, and we can barely afford bread. Clean water is a luxury. Every day is a fight for the basics.

And yet… I still dream.

I am Tasneem the top student who, despite the destruction and loss, still believes in her dream.

Still says: “Maybe someone will hear me. Maybe there’s still light to guide the way.”

All I ask for is a chance — a chance to study, to live with dignity, and to become what I was meant to be.