Help Yosef's Family Survive

The atrocities of the conflict in Gaza are immeasurable, and sadly my friend Yosef Abu Eisha and his family have experienced great hardships over the past year.

Their house was bombed.

Their businesses were bombed.

Yosef's barbershop was burned.

They have suffered illnesses and grave injuries.

And they have been displaced and displaced again as they try to avoid the ceaseless massacres, while the world does nothing to stop this.

Yosef and his brother, Ahmed, both had babies born during this war. Life with infants is demanding and difficult under the best of circumstances, but caring for infants in Gaza right now has brought unimaginable challenges. Due to malnutrition, mothers in Gaza are having difficulties producing enough milk to nourish their babies. Milk is incredibly difficult to find and when it can be found it is so expensive that it often cannot be afforded. There is a diaper shortage, so as I type this (Oct 15th, 2024), the current cost of diapers in Gaza is $70 per pack! It is beyond challenging to keep a baby adequately clean in a dusty and sandy environment while living in a tent. But these challenges are nothing compared to some of the adversities faced by Yosef and Ahmed in the care of their children.

On June 8th, 2024, when Yosef's baby girl was just 51 days old, he took her to the hospital for her to receive a vaccination. While making that trip Yosef and his daughter were caught in the Nuseirat Massacre. Yosef was burned on his hand and back as he shielded his infant daughter from harm, but luckily, he and his baby girl were not murdered like the nearly 300 other people that were martyred that day.

Then on October 1st, 2024, the unimaginable happened. Ahmed's 11-month-old baby boy, Yahya was struck in the head with a bullet. Luckily, the doctors were able to save Yahya's life, performing surgery immediately to remove the bullet and to stop the bleeding. As I type this (Oct 15, 2024), Yayha is still in the hospital. He has undergone a second surgery to try to repair nerve damage. Unfortunately, as of today, Yahya has not regained the use of his left arm. The family hopes that they can get help getting Yahya out of Gaza so that he can receive the necessary operations and physical therapy that he will need in order to have a hope of a full recovery. If anyone reading this campaign knows of a nonprofit that can help us get Yahya the care he needs outside of Gaza, please message me, Michelle, through this campaign.

Can you imagine having this happen to your baby as you were getting ready for bed, while living in a tent? This is the unsafe and uncertain reality that Ahmed, Yosef, and sadly many others have to endure in Gaza right now. At least 700 infants in Gaza have been killed before they reached their first birthdays. We cannot let Yosef or Ahmed be added to the list of parents who must mourn the deaths of their children.

As they were rushing to get Yahya to the hospital someone accidentally slammed Yosef's hand in the car door and broke his hand. Yosef is a barber by profession, which means that he needs his hands to make income. Hopefully, his broken hand will recover properly without adequate medical care.

There is so much more I could share about what this family has gone through, but I want to take a moment to share some of the good the donors to this campaign have been able to do. In additional to helping with the purchase of milk and diapers for the little ones, our beautiful donors have helped us prepare Yosef to be able to get to work again as soon as his hand heals. Due to other injuries Yosef has suffered in this years-long war and this hand break, it is very difficult for Yosef to find and perform other types of work in order to make money to feed his family. Our donors sent Yosef money on the morning of October 7th, 2024, because instead of Yosef focusing on the heaviness of the fact that he has been living under the siege of war for an entire year, we wanted Yosef to have hope and optimism. As I heard someone brilliantly say the other day, hope is not something that is found, it is something that is created. So we collectively send Yosef the money that he would need to repurchase all of the barbing tools he would need to replace the ones that he lost in the burning of his barbershop. Yosef has already purchased the equipment - he picks up the last of the pieces tomorrow - and he is looking forward to doing his first haircut in over a year. We cannot wait to see the video of that first cut!

Yosef is such a fabulous barber! You can see Yosef at work, before the war, on his Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/yosef_abu_eisha/?hl=en

Yosef has such a kind heart, is a dedicated family man, and despite all of the hardship in his life he gives thanks to God and sends his blessings to those around him.

Yosef has said, “We have lived through a lot of horror. I want to live in peace. I want to save the future of my children and my brothers’ children and complete their education.”

Please help me ease the suffering of this beautiful soul, Yosef, and his family. Yosef is a friend of mine and I do not want him and his family to suffer any more.

Please donate to help them sustain their lives through this war and for the rebuilding of their lives once this nightmare ends.

Yosef's family would like to leave Gaza.

There are 12 adults and 10 children in their family.

The minimum cost to leave is $5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child.

All money raised will be transferred to Yosef's Bank of Jordan account. The money will be used for a secure home, food and daily living requirements while this war continues. After the war the money will be used for their exit out of Gaza and for the rebuilding process.

Family members this fundraiser will be helping include:

Sami Mahmoud Muhammad Abu Aisha (father)

His beloved Abdul Karim Khalil Abu Aisha (wife)

Muhammad Sami Mahmoud Abu Aisha (father)

Naglaa Omar Abu Aisha (Matar) (wife)

Ahmed Sami Mahmoud Abu Aisha (father)

Wafa Maher Abu Aisha (Al-Amoudi) (husband)

Youssef Sami Mahmoud Abu Aisha (father)

Ghadeer Omar Abdel Karim Abu Aisha (Al-Mahlawi) (wife)

Mahmoud Sami Mahmoud Abu Aisha (father)

Bisan Nasser Abu Aisha (Al-Amsi) (wife)

Musa Sami Mahmoud Abu Aisha (husband)

Iman Omar Ibrahim Abu Aisha (Matar) (wife)

... and 10 minor children.

Please be an Earth Angel for this family that deserves to live in peace and security and to have a hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Thank you,

Michelle (USA)