Rebuilding Hope For Doaa’s Family And Saving Them

Amani Mahdi is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello my name is Amani . I have created this fundraiser in hope to help my friend, Doaa Hamdouna, and her family which consists of my friend, her husband, and her two children, Zeyad , 4years old, and Alma, one year old. My friend and her family have been in very difficult conditions in Gaza after the 7th of October, as they were displaced from their home 4 times. The two children left their home for the first time and moved to their family’s home, and then they moved with the family to another, less safe home. Then the army ordered them to flee to southern Gaza, so they fled to the ground, then they ended up fleeing to a small tent and sleeping on the sand.

Since the war on Gaza started, she lost almost everything on second March , she lost 30 members of my family ( father's family) in one second. One rocket was enough to end the life of her 2 uncles, 2 aunts and all their sons, daughter, stepdaughters and grandchildren. None of them were left alive.

The family is suffering from a lack of food, especially the children. Alma, ran out of her mother’s milk due to malnutrition, and the price of infant formula doubled. Zeyad saw the simplest thing that could be available to children, which was apples, and he screamed and cried, wanting a banana, but the price of one apple reached $8.

There was also a lack of healthy drinking water, which caused them severe stomach pain, and both my friend and her husband became infected with hepatitis A. Due to the conditions imposed by the occupation and siege and the lack of resources, it has been difficult for the family to provide the children with basic and simple needs, such as diapers. It is difficult to provide for Zeyad and Alma’s needs, and because of the poor types of diapers available, Salma suffered from a skin rash.

To make matters worse, the displacements occurred during summer. Their tent provides little defense against the scorching sun , with numerous insects spreading inside. This has left their children frightened by the noise of insects and the intense heat, mistaking the buzz for something more sinister.

The family also suffers from the lack of a bathroom or even a shower. They can only shower once a month using a bucket due to the lack of water. The water is cold because there is no electricity or gas to heat the water. Every morning, Walaa washes her children's clothes with cold water and spread the clothes out in the open. If food is found, it is cooked on firewood and it is completely unhealthy and tastes bad because of the firewood.

Zeyad and Alma are the most precious thing they own. Saad and Doaa were happy with the arrival of their child Alma, as they were taking pictures of her during her first months to keep in their memories the stages of their child’s growth. They never imagined that the child would grow up to 8 months during the war! Or for Omar to suddenly grow up and learn to pound wood for tents and firewood.

They never imagined their lives would be like this. My friend and her husband had a beautiful, quiet life in Gaza with big dreams for their two children, planning for a brilliant future. They both had a steady job and a stable income. There was a house with a roof to shelter them and a warm bed for the children, and all their needs were available, but the war deprived them of that.

Asking for your help is the only way they have to rescue their family’s life and future, your help may become their hope when hope is far away from us under these conditions, every dollar you can help with may save a life, bring hope to a tired heart and save a future of a youth one.

Please don’t read this as a tragedy story ,, I’m here to ask you to prevent it from getting more tragedy and to help us start our life all over again. I’m here to ask for your help not your sympathy , to ask you to take action whether by donating or by sharing this to everyone you know who can help, please read this with your heart and take action as if it’s your family, your mom, your siblings who are under these conditions.

Your donation and sharing of their story will help them greatly to rebuild their lives, provide the necessary protection for their children, and provide their basic necessities of food, treatment, and necessities.