Help Aseel’s family restart their life after fleeing Gaza!

Dear friends and supporters,

Having left everything behind in Gaza, the Abu Halloub family now needs to ensure housing, food, essential medication, visa and permit fees, and university and school enrollments for Aseel and his siblings.

You can help the Abu Halloub family get the resources they need to make it through these dark times.

The original goal of this campaign was to evacuate the Abu Halloub family from Gaza. We are immensely relieved and grateful that on March 25th, Aseel, his parents, and his three siblings successfully evacuated Gaza.

Due to this unforeseen but significant turn of events, Aseel and the team have decided to change the goal of this GoFundMe. Our new goal is to support Aseel and his family to rebuild their lives in Egypt until they decide where to resettle, or whether to return to Gaza and rebuild their lives there once the war is over. The $8,500 raised in the first push of the campaign will now be used to support the Abu Halloub family's new beginning and the funds already raised can now be directed to more productive and essential purposes. We are asking for your help, to make sure that Aseel's family has all the resources they need to begin rebuilding their lives.

We are now relaunching this campaign. Below you will find a detailed breakdown of the planned expenditures:

- Housing: Approximately 30% of the funds will be allocated to renting a new home in Egypt. This will cover the monthly rent, security deposit, and basic furnishings and household items.

- University education costs: About 25% of the funds will be used to cover the educational expenses of the two university siblings. This includes tuition fees, textbooks, and school supplies

- Elementary and high school costs: Another 20% will be allocated to cover the educational expenses of the two school-aged siblings. This would include school fees, uniforms, school supplies, and any extracurricular activities they may wish to participate in.

- Basic necessities: Around 15% of the funds will be used to provide the family with essential needs such as food, clothing, personal hygiene products, and other daily necessities.

- Miscellaneous and emergency expenses: Finally, approximately 10% of the funds will be set aside for any unexpected or emergency expenses that may arise, and additional costs that may not have been accounted for initially

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IMPORTANT NOTE: We are so relieved and grateful to announce that Aseel, his parents, and his three siblings all successfully evacuated Gaza on March 25th, through a rare opportunity that allowed their family to get on an evacuation list through the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, and meant that they did not have to pay the exorbitant fees demanded by Hala Company (which coordinates evacuations for the majority of Gazans leaving via Rafah crossing).

Because of this unforeseen but very exciting change of events, Aseel and the team have decided to shift the goal of this GoFundMe to help him and his family rebuild their lives in Egypt until they decide where they will resettle, or if they will return to Gaza once the war is over and rebuild their lives there again. We will fully relaunch this campaign with this new goal in mind in a few weeks with a new exact expenditure breakdown provided. Please see the update for more info.

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Dear friends, we are hosting this urgent fundraiser on behalf of our friend Aseel Abu Haloub’s family, who we met through our amazing friend Nemer.

Aseel Abu Haloub is a passionate young engineer from the northern Gaza Strip, with a burning desire to make a difference. He was a final year student at the Faculty of Engineering at Palestine University in Gaza, and about to launch his dream engineering project to open an engineering consulting firm with his best friend, when the war broke out and shattered his hopes and his dreams for a sustainable future in Gaza. Since the early days of the war, after his family home in Beit Lahia was destroyed in a devastating airstrike in October, his family has been displaced multiple times. They sought refuge and safety first in Jabalia and again in Deir al-Balah, which has been hit hard in rounds of indiscriminate carpet-bombing multiple times in the past month. Now, the entire population is starving and they have been left with no choice but to try and evacuate to safety.

Aseel’s wonderful father is a dedicated school-teacher, his mother is a brilliant chemist and exceptional mother, his sister is a university student studying French and English with the goal of becoming a professional translator for the foreign press. He has two younger siblings, who are now unable to go to school. Despite all of the hardship, for the past several months, Aseel has been working alongside a group of dedicated volunteers at an incredible food aid organization, Heroic Hearts, to distribute hot meals and essential goods to other people in need. Now he needs our help!

This fundraiser is a critical appeal to evacuate Aseel and his family members to Egypt, which is a costly and difficult process. Our urgent evacuation campaign includes six family members:

Our friend, Aseel Abu Haloub, 24 years old

His father, Haitham Abu Haloub, 54 years old

His mother, Lina Abu Haloub, 53 years old

His sister, Haya Abu Haloub, 21 years old

His sister, Salma, 16 years old

His youngest brother, Amir, 9 years old

Please note– accounting transparency on how the money will be allocated is located at the bottom of this page.

Aseel’s Story:

My name is Aseel and I am a final year student at the Faculty of Engineering at Palestine University in Gaza. This field has always been my passion and I grew up with a deep love for it. I believe that with the help of engineering, we can make a positive impact on the world. I have been involved in numerous volunteer projects, initiatives and campaigns to bring the beauty and wonders of my studies to the younger generation in Gaza. Seeing their eyes light up with curiosity and enthusiasm drives me to continue this mission.

I was about to launch my dream project, the culmination of my hard work, time and resources. But life had a different plan for me. The ongoing war in Gaza shattered my hopes. Not only was I unable to realize my dream, but the destruction caused by the Israeli forces prevented me from completing my studies and left me in a state of uncertainty. I felt like everything I had worked so hard for was slipping away from me. It has been a difficult and challenging time for me and my family.

My family consists of six members. My father, Haitham Abu Haloub (54), has been a school teacher for 20 years, raising generations of young people throughout his life. He has always supported and encouraged me in my academic endeavors. My mother Lina (53) has a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Yet she devotes all of her time to managing our house, which has been completely wrecked by the war. Throughout my academic career, I waited for the time when I could make my parents proud. My older sister, Haya (21), is in her second year at University. She was studying French and English with the goal of becoming a translator for foreign news agencies. Salma (16), my youngest sister, is in secondary school and hopes to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine. My younger brother, Amir (9), is in his first year of school. He's sobbing now because he wants to go to school. He does not understand why the schools are now being turned into emergency shelters for displaced people.

Our family home is in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the border. In the early days of the war, we were forced to flee to the central region because we thought it was a safe place. But there is no such place in Gaza anymore. Every region is being bombed and destroyed. Our own family home was bombed and reduced to rubble in the second week of the war.

Despite being affected by the war myself, I have taken on the responsibility of helping other displaced people. Together with my friend Nemer, a group of wonderful friends and dedicated volunteers, we work alongside each other to distribute hot meals and essential goods to those in need. It has been an emotional journey, but knowing that we can make a difference in people's lives is well worth it. You can watch a video about our efforts with Heroic Hearts here.

Even in the face of immense challenges that we continue to endure, I'm determined to create a crowdfunding campaign to evacuate my family from Gaza and ensure their safety. It breaks my heart to see them living in fear. I want to provide them with a chance for a better life.

But that's not all. I also want to continue my education and become even more well-equipped with skills and resources. I believe that by empowering myself, I can come back to my beloved hometown and continue my mission of inspiring kids, teenagers, and youth through engineering. I want to show them that no matter the challenges we face, engineering can be a pathway to a brighter future.

I’m aiming to raise $35,000 to help my family evacuate abroad. Your donation will help cover travel expenses, Egyptian bureaucratic fees, clothes, medicine, housing and other basic necessities for rebuilding our lives. All donations will be collected from my dear friend Hannah MacLeod’s bank account in San Francisco and transferred directly to me.

My story is one of resilience, hope, and a burning desire to make a difference. I'm reaching out to kind-hearted individuals like you, who believe in the power of engineering and the potential it holds for transforming lives. Together, we can create a ripple effect of change.

Thank you for listening to my story, and I hope you'll consider supporting my crowdfunding campaign. Let's make dreams come true, one engineer at a time.

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Accounting transparency:

Our goal is $35,000. This money will go to:

$27,500 – Hala registration fees for 5 adult registrations ($5,000 each) and 1 child ($2,500).

$5,000 – housing, food, and visa fees while in Egypt for the duration of three months for six family members.

$2,500 – flight fees for relocation outside of Egypt.