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Help Yasmin's Family Rebuild their Lives in Australia

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My name is Vivi Martin and I'm a friend of Yasmin Saba and her family. They arrived in Australia in May and I have been teaching Yasmin English since June.

They are a middle-class family from Gaza. Yasmin's husband Wisam was a Bank Manager and Yasmin was a Social Worker with Ma'an, an aid organisation in Palestine. They have 2 sons, Merwan now 7 and Fares now 2. They lived a good life close to the beach and close to their church Saint Porphyrios.

All that changed on 7th October 2023 when they woke up to the sound of war. Electricity, water and all means of life were cut, accompanied by the sounds of airstrikes and gunfire in their neighbourhood. They evacuated their home and moved several times trying to find somewhere safe, sheltering in the church with many others. However on 19 October there were strikes on the church. The family was crying for help under the rubble. Six year old Merwan, went looking for his grandparents but they were killed alongside 16 others, 7 of whom were children.

You can click on this link to see how their lives were before and after the war.


The decision to leave when they did, allowed them to survive. Taking what they thought they would need they walked along the beach to the Rafah Crossing, leaving behind a suitcase in the sand. Tanks were lining either side of their exodus and they feared for their lives. 6 year old Marwan carried his own backpack while 2 year old Fares was carried in his parents arms. With money that was crowd funded by a relative in Canada they managed to pay the authorities what was required to enter Egypt - $10,000 per person. After a few months they were able to take a tourist visa to Australia.

On the tourist visa they could not work nor access any benefits such as Medicare. Palestinian Christians in Australia PCIA provided a lot of practical help, finding and furnishing a house and paying half rent for 4 months. Merwan got a scholarship to a nearby Catholic School. A Temporary Bridging Visa came through, enabling work rights. The family swung into action and got their NSW driving licenses, lessons kindly subsidised by some of our Choir Members and friends.

Gradually the men in the family managed to find some low paid jobs, and now Wisam is doing a traineeship with a bank, which is fantastic. Yasmin has managed to get 3 hours work per week from home providing social support to an elderly Arabic speaking client. But with a busy active 2 year old around its not easy for her to work.

Childcare is between $100 - $150 per day, but as they are not permanent residents they are not entitled to any subsidy. I called Canterbury Bankstown Council and Tony Burke's office to see if any exceptions could be made, to no avail. Very soon it will be school holidays and so both boys will be at home.

After 4 months with PCIAs support they now have to pay full rent, but with low incomes it leaves very little for anything else. Its fantastic that her husband has a traineeship with the bank but it is on the minimum wage. The plan with this fundraiser is to help contribute towards the cost of rent over the school holiday period and towards the cost of childcare from February 2025 to enable Yasmin to find and get started in a job.

There is no doubt that this is a step along the way as this resourceful, resilient and brave family rebuild their lives in Australia.

Your contribution in supporting them in this step is most appreciated.

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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 17 d
  • Sharon Aris
    • $100
    • 18 d
  • Pamela hubbard
    • $100
    • 1 mo
  • Vi Pham
    • $100
    • 1 mo
  • Junia Kerr
    • $100
    • 1 mo
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Organizer

Vivienne Jacqueline Martin
Organizer
Yagoona, NSW

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