Help Yahya Rebuild a Life of Dignity for His Family.

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. It means the world! ♥️

Those who know me know that advocacy for liberty, equality, and human dignity has always been deeply important to me. For many years, I have helped raise awareness and support for people facing oppression and hardship. Over the last two and a half years, I have also been involved in the Israel/Palestine grassroots movement called Standing Together, where I have met many people from Gaza, Israel and the West Bank, who want exactly what so many of us want: safety, freedom, stability, equity and a future for their children.

Through this work, I have made peace activist friends whose lives have been turned upside down in ways no family should ever have to endure. I have tried to help however I can, whether by connecting students in the war torn areas with educational opportunities abroad, helping friends search for safer living options, or, in this case, trying to help one family avoid homelessness again while rebuilding their life as refugees in Egypt.

I am asking you today to support my friend Yahya Zakaria Abdul Aal, his beautiful wife Dina, and their three children.

If you are able to donate, any amount truly helps. If donating is not possible right now, sharing this campaign or offering paid remote work could also make a real difference.

Here is Yahya’s story, in his own words and spirit (some of it translated by a program):

My name is Yahya Zakaria Abdul Aal. I am a 32-year-old from Gaza, a husband to my wife Dina, and a father of three beautiful children: Ratel (9), Zakaria (7), and Hassan (2) and a 4th on their way.

Before October 7th, my life was full of hope and hard work. I was a shawarma chef, proud of my craft, and I dreamed of opening my own small restaurant one day. I lived happily with my wife and our three wonderful children.

Our life was simple, but it was ours.

We had a home, plenty of laughter, family visits, and dreams for the future. I just wanted my children to live like every child in the world — go to school, play with friends, and sleep without fear.

But everything changed when the war started. In a single moment, I lost my home, my job, my car, and the life I had built over many years. My family and I were forced to live in an unstable, unlivable tent for seven months, surrounded by fear, destruction, and uncertainty. It was just the beginning of the hardest chapter of our lives.

On April 30, 2024, after enduring months of hunger, constant drone buzzing, bombing and death all around us, we managed to leave Gaza with the help of extremely kind people. It cost us $18,000 just to cross the border into Egypt — our entire life savings and more.

We are now in Egypt… but we have no home, no relatives, no school for our children, and no stable life. My kids ask me when they will go back to school, when they will have friends again — and I have no answer for them.

My dreams in life have never been extravagant but now all I ask is for the basics. Being able to rebuild a small, safe life for my family — to rent a humble home, find schools for them, and watch them laugh again.

This campaign is not just about money, it’s about being able to breathe so I can build a better future for them step by step.

I am not there yet. Not even close. Even though we are now in safety and out of the war zone, survival has remained a daily struggle.

My refugee status in Egypt, does not allow me to get employed anywhere so I always have to find ways to support my family however I can. Every day is a fight to provide the basics: shelter, food, and stability including access to a school for my children.

There has been nights when my family and I had nowhere to go, so we slept on the street. Literally. A beautiful Syrian man who also made his way to Egypt during the Syrian War in 2012, understood our situation as he had been where we were, years earlier. He offered my family temporary shelter and for this I will be eternally grateful however it still doesn’t help with the other basic needs to survive.

As a father, there is no greater pain than trying to protect your children while feeling powerless.

Again, I am not asking for a life of luxury by any means. I am asking for the chance to be able to stand up with dignity, to keep my family safe, and to rebuild our lives. They have already lost so much.

This is the last option I have to make sure they do not also lose their future.

Your support would help us with our urgent living expenses including:

• safe housing

• food and daily essentials

• schooling and basic needs for the children

•prenatal care for my wife

• transportation to get to immigration and appointments and my children to the schools.

• stability while I continue searching for ways to work and support my family

I am a father who refuses to surrender. I have not given up, and I will not give up. I still believe a better life is possible, and I am doing everything I can to try and create one for my wife and children. At least to one day get close to the place we once were. Inshallah.

If you are able to donate any amount, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you cannot, sharing this campaign or helping me find remote work would mean so much.

Peace & gratitude,

Yehya

Yahya is available for paid remote work, including:

• tutoring in English, Arabic, and beginner Hebrew

• video editing (including CapCut)

• music lessons

• photography-related work

Every contribution (even one that’s the cost of a coffee), every share, and every work opportunity offered helps move this family one step closer to stability.

If you need to get in touch with Yehya, leave a message here as to how I can contact you and  I can arrange for that. Or, you can find me @ymiapeanut on Instagram.

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for helping this family hold onto hope.

Robyn♥️