My name is Alaa. I am 31 years old and a mother of four children: Hamza (7), Maria (6), Yahya (4), and Furat (2).

For two years, my children have known nothing but war. Fear, bombing, displacement, and hunger have become part of our daily lives. I worked as a physical therapist, helping people heal, until the clinic where I worked was destroyed and our home was lost.

In the second month of the war, while displaced and living under bombardment, I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, Furat. I carried her without adequate food or medical care and gave birth under unbearable conditions. Furat has never slept in a bed; she has spent her entire life in a thin plastic tent that offers no protection from cold or wind.

Today, we live in a tent that cannot protect us from the harsh winter. The cold cuts through my children’s bodies at night; they wake up shaking and crying. We have no heating, no insulation, and no real shelter. I hold my children close all night to keep them from freezing, but the cold is stronger than me. My children suffer from malnutrition, and their fragile bodies cannot endure this freezing weather.

Hamza dreams of returning to school, but his school was destroyed. Maria wakes up terrified from nightmares, and Yahya suffers from severe psychological distress after years of fear and displacement.

Our goal is survival and reaching a safe place.

We urgently need shelter to protect my children now, and we need a chance to leave Gaza and live in safety.

Fundraising Goal: $55,000

Every donation, no matter how small, can save my children from cold and fear and bring us one step closer to a safe life. If you cannot donate, please share our story.

Thank you to everyone who stands with a mother trying to save her children from this cruel winter.