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Help Me Feed My Family and Rebuild My Dream From the Rubble
My name is Khaled Al-Zard, a young man in my twenties from Gaza.
I used to own a small shoe shop in Al-Sahaba Market — a place I built from scratch with my own hands.
Every shoe, every shelf was the result of years of hard work. I was living my dream, step by step.
I saved money to marry my fiancée, and to support my mother, father, and younger brother.
Even under siege, I still dreamed.
But war stole everything from me.
Just a few days before our wedding, I was working in the shop when I heard warplanes in the sky. I felt afraid. That night, I went to visit my fiancée to find some peace. We talked about the wedding, tried to ease the worry — then I went home.
One hour later
I fell asleep, I woke up to screams.
My family and neighbors were shouting:
“Your shop is burning! It was bombed!”
I ran to the market and saw everything I built going up in flames.
The shoes, the shelves, the walls… even my dreams — turned to ash.
I sat on the sidewalk, surrounded by smoke and tears, holding a melted shoe in my hands, trying to process that I was back to square one.
But my fiancée held my hand and said:
> “Shoes can be replaced. But you are irreplaceable. I am always with you.
Her words brought me back to life.
I started selling tissue boxes on the sidewalk, just to have a small wedding. Today, I lay down a piece of cloth in that same market and place a few shoes on it, waiting for customers. But the situation in Gaza is worse than ever.
Today, there is no food, no water, no electricity, and no work.
I’m writing to you from the heart of destruction — not for pity, but for a chance to live with dignity.
All I want is to feed my family, rebuild my shop, and recover a small piece of what was taken from me.
Please help me stand back on my feet.
Help me feed my mother, father, brother, and my wife. Because if the bombing doesn’t kill us, hunger and thirst might.
Help me rebuild my dream from under the rubble.
Please donate or share my story. Any support — no matter how small — is a ray of light in this darkness.
Rola wrote a story about on WANN:
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