Help Mahmoud and his Family Evacuate Gaza

Hello everyone,

My name is Carla and I’m from the United States currently in Spain. I have created this fundraising campaign to ask for your help on behalf of my dear friend, Mohammed, whose family is trying to escape to safety in Egypt amidst the current war in Gaza.

I met Mohammed (as well as his cousin, Yamen) in 2020 in Bolivia, in the middle of quarantine. We got stuck in Bolivia due to border closures as a reaction to the pandemic and spent a few months living in the same hostel. I have fond memories of cooking together, walking the humid streets of Santa Cruz, playing cards on the terrace, and helping him improve his American accent while he gave me some of my first Arabic lessons. I have long-since left Bolivia, but Mohammed and Yamen stayed - they obtained Bolivian residency and started a new life.

Since October 7th, it has been heartbreaking hearing from Mohammed the horrors that his family in Gaza has had to endure. Their home has been completely destroyed, they have lost 28 family members, and have been displaced several times. Now, they are urgently seeking support to evacuate to safety in Egypt. Unfortunately, Mohammed is unable to raise the necessary funds from his current location in Bolivia, which is why I’ve taken the initiative to start this campaign (please scroll for the full breakdown of costs). He put me in contact with his brother, Mahmoud, who is in Gaza.

Please read Mahmoud’s story.

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My name is Mahmoud Alhaj, and I am 23 years old. Before October 7th, [I was]

working as account manager at local telecom company called JAWWL, and my father

had a workshop to repair engines.

And I am dreaming of completing my master's degree in international economics at

one of the leading universities in Europe, but after October 7th, all of this changed.

As a result of the ongoing war in Gaza Strip, the company where I've been working

for is completely destroyed, my father's workshop was destroyed also, and our home

was partially destroyed as it's not fit to live in anymore. On 1 January of this year, we

were forced by the Israeli army to evacuate our homes because the area where we live

become a dangerous battle zone. We moved to Rafah governorate, where nearly 1.5

million displaced persons located in a geographical area does not exceeds 64 square

kilometers, I lived with 9 members of my family in a tent in an area that lacked the

minimum necessities of life, as the drinking water was contaminated and various

diseases were widespread in the area, and there is no medical care at the displacement

camp due to the complete destruction [of] hospitals in Gaza Strip.

On 10 May 2024, the Israeli army warned the displaced families in Rafah area and

forced them to evacuate to the governorate of Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah, where it

occupied the Rafah land crossing. Based on this, we displaced for the second time to

one of the displacement camps in a small governorate called Al-Nuseirat, where the

conditions here are more difficult than last time because due to the occupation of

Rafah land crossing by Israeli army, as this is the only land crossing through which

food aids brought to us.

We've suffered a lot over the past 224 days, where we've lost a lot of relatives and

friends because of the constant indiscriminate bombing, and we're suffering from

difficult financial conditions because we've lost our sources of income.

You guys now my only hope of saving my family by going to Egypt and starting a

new life there. But we have a problem, since the Egyptian government is charging $5,000 for adults and $2,500 for children to allow them to cross the border and go to Egypt.

Your support means a lot for us and gives us hope, any donation, whatever the amount

will create [a] difference [in] our lives.

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Cost breakdown:

The funds raised will be used for the following:

$40,000: to evacuate the 9 family members (7 adults and 2 children)

$1,500: Meet basic needs of the family while awaiting evacuation (this includes food, water, medicine, blankets, tents, etc.)

$1,500: Help support the family upon arrival in Egypt

$2,500: Mohammed’s travel expenses from Bolivia to Egypt to reunite with his family and help support them as they start anew

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Thank you so much for your generous support. The funds are being collected in my US bank account and for basic needs, will be sent to the family in Gaza (and eventually Egypt) via wire/bank transfer. For evacuation purposes, given the large sum of money, we have decided to use at least two methods to get the money to the agency. Some money is being sent by wire/bank transfer to Mahmoud's bank account in Gaza which he will use to register his family in the Ya Hala branch there; the other part of the money will be sent to Mohammed in Bolivia who will travel to Egypt when the time comes to complete the process, which includes registering the family for travel though Ya Hala travel agency. I will be in constant coordination with Mohammed to ensure he and his family have access to the money, as well as in constant contact with Mahmoud. All updates will be posted here.

With deep gratitude,

Carla