Help Ali and Yahya from Gaza rebuild their lives

Meet Ali Fadl Al-Harazin (21) and Yahya Alhamarna (23), two incredible young men from Gaza.

Not so long ago, Ali and Yahya were both studying at the university, and had great futures ahead of them. Over the last 16 months, they lost everything; their homes, universities, their family’s livelihoods, and even friends and family members.

They both live with their families, which each consists of multiple adults and children. After being displaced for many months and living in makeshift shelters in refugee camps, they have recently returned back to what is left of their homes in Northern Gaza.

ALI

The house of Ali’s family has been destroyed almost completely, leaving only the underground basement as a semi-closed off space to live in. Ali and some family members have started to clear an immense amount of rubble to try to make the space more livable. They are also working to create an improvised bathroom and kitchen using rain barrels, tarps, and other materials at hand.

Creating a situation that is more suitable for long-term living will be a huge task for them, and will also require significant funds. Since they have no way to earn money themselves, currently their only source of income is donations from people like you and me. Next to being able to buy basic necessities like food, Ali's family needs to buy various building materials like large tarps, wooden boards, pipes, bags of concrete and more. With materials being scarce and blocked from entering Gaza, this is not an easy task. The current price of a single bag of concrete is for example 160 euros.

After all Ali has been through, he and his family really deserve to have a place where they can feel at ease, stay warm and dry, and take some time to recover from all that has happened in their lives.

YAHYA

Yahya’s life used to be very focused on his studies as a Political Science student, working hard on his big goals for the future. Unfortunately his university is now destroyed.

Right now, Yahya's first focus is to take good care of his family in Gaza City, where daily life poses many challenges. Simple things like getting water and food are very time and labor intensive chores for him. His dream however is to move abroad later this year, continue his studies, and have a positive impact in the world for the people of Palestine.

In the short term, Yahya needs our support to help him and his family navigate the challenging circumstances they live in. They need to buy food, warm clothes, and other basic necessities. Next to this, we want to help Yahya with his next step in life: moving from Gaza to Belgium. Here he wants to start a new life, find a place to live, become a student again, and work once again towards the future he dreams of.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We invite you to extend a hand to Ali and Yahya in this important new phase of their lives by donating to this fundraiser that we have organized for them. While we can’t change the whole world, we CAN make an important difference for these two families. Any donation, big or small, is welcome and makes a difference for them.

Aside from direct donations, we welcome anyone who would like to work with us and donate for example the proceeds of selling some of their crafts, homemade products, a yoga class, baked goods or something else to this family. We can also work together to organize an online promotion of your products, or sell on a market. We will be organizing other activities, such as the sale of homemade products on markets. Please contact us to connect about options, together we make a difference!

WHO ARE WE?

We are Amber Vriends Quinn and Clarissa van den Berg, and we are both from the Netherlands. Last year, we met and became friends while protesting against the injustice happening in Gaza. We decided we wanted to do more. Therefore, earlier this year, we organized a fundraiser together for another family. Grateful this family is now doing relatively well, we now wish to try and help our friends Ali and Yahya in Gaza too.

Amber has been in close contact with Ali and Yahya for quite a long time, and Clarissa connected with the two a bit later.

Thank you for supporting these kind people through this incredibly challenging time!