“If any saves a life, it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind” - Al Maidah, 32, The Holy Quran.
Salam, I'm Shaima from Canada. I'm organizing this fundraiser on behalf of my best friend's family Eman.
They are in Gaza now, in the middle of the unimaginable war facing fear, lack of food and all life necessities!
We are a Palestinian family ,currently in Gaza, in the middle of a devastating war. We had a beautiful home in Gaza in Shajayea Neighborhood. We had a thankful and a warm life in Gaza.
Our life has been tested as we were displaced FIVE times, navigating through uncertainty, searching for safety, and struggling for basic necessities.
OUR STORY
We are Omar and Eman Hilles. We are the parents to two beautiful and talented young girls, Tala and Rima. We both worked really hard on the upbringing of our family. We both had full time jobs. Saving as much money as we could to buy a house. Peace is all we want.
Our house is gone, in a blink of an eye we lost our home, our jobs and our savings. We lost our memories and our dreams. When we evacuated our home, we had hope that we will return the next day. I left my house only with a small hand bag that has some clothes for the girls.
When they bombed the house, they completely leveled it to the ground. Our house was one of a four floors building, the other floors were for our elder parents, our uncle and my brother. Our building is the one that you see in the picture, this is the only picture that we got since we were displaced from our neighborhood. We have no hope of saving anything from under the rubble, not to mention that our neighborhood is completely destroyed and was declared to be in the buffer zone which means that we won’t be able to reach the area ever again!
A Struggle for Survival
For almost two years now, we sought safety and peace by constantly relocating, surviving near misses with bombings along the way. Faced with the harsh reality of displacement for five times, from our neighborhood, to the center of Gaza city, to Khanyounis, then to Rafah in the south and currently in Deir AlBalah.
I can’t forget the look on my daughters’ faces when there was a bombard next to our place in Khanyounis, they were running and screaming all over the place, the fear on their faces and the way they were shivering was heartbreaking.
The lack of food is another major problem that we still suffer from, mainly bread and clean water, which matters the most for surviving. And as a result of that our general health is getting weaker, facing diseases as Tala -10 years old- had in Rafah, she faced severe gastrointestinal illness and without any medicine in the Health Center but saline solution it took her five days to recover.
Eman says: “The war and tough daily life routines took a toll on me, causing me to faint twice. It was scary and confusing. Both times, I had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. The stress and exhaustion from living in such difficult conditions made my body give out. It's a harsh reality that many people face in times of conflict, where even the most basic tasks can become monumental challenges”.
We have made the courageous decision to evacuate Gaza strip and embark on a new life journey, leaving behind the remnants of our shattered past.
Omar is an engineer, Eman is a teacher. Currently we are both jobless due to the state of war, and we have no source of income.
How You Can Make a Difference
Your support means the world to us. It's not just a donation; it's a lifeline of hope that guides us toward a brighter tomorrow. As we embark on this journey, I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who chooses to stand by our side.
Believe me, every dollar you give makes a real difference!
Your support will help cover essential costs like rent, food, transportation, and basic daily needs as we rebuild our lives in a new place. Every donation brings us one step closer to peace, dignity, and hope.
Together, we can close this chapter of hardship and begin a new one filled with strength, peace, and hope. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
Omar, Eman, Tala and Rima