Hello,

My name is Leah and I want to raise money for my Palestinian friend Ashraf and his family to pay for a solar powered battery to keep the basics of their shelter running: light and electricity. The cost is about $1000 but I'm asking for double because they need it and because of how relatively little that amount is to the collective.

I met Ashraf on IG when I reached out to him after I found his Chuffed account. I was drawn to how spare it was. He came across as a person who is very unaccustomed to receiving help because his bio only included one, picture of him, standing on the rubble of what I presumed had been his home. I felt his strong apprehension to show faces, though the account was meant to represent a family of nine; a married couple and their seven children. I've had the privilege of meeting them all through video calls. The rest of the images on his Chuffed page are of the living situation they were forced into. A flooded tent.

As a parent this situation is incredibly difficult to imagine but Ashraf smiles with a heartfelt warmth in every video interaction we have.

Before the family was displaced they were living a peaceful lifestyle in a village called Al-Maghraqa. I recognised the word as meaning 'Morocco,' and asked him why.

"It is called for [sic] Its resources are abundant due to the abundance of its trees. It means that it is overflowing with goodness.That's why they called it Al-Maghraqa. We have many olive trees. But unfortunately, most of it was destroyed."

The infrastructure was destroyed during an invasion and it flooded as a result. His trees were destroyed. I spoke to him after his return when he found nothing recognisable; the family home was demolished.

"What did you grow besides olives?" I asked.

"I had grapes, guavas, lemons, oranges and pomelos."

He sent a photo of him, from before their displacement, chilling in the sun outside of his house.

We continue to be in touch over these ensuing months of horrific occupation. One day he apprehensively spoke to me about the haunted feeling of walking past rubble, knowing that people are buried under it.

Another time he joyfully showed video footage of a mother cat nursing a large litter of spotted and striped kittens. He made a shelter for her in his tent and said she was sent by Allah to be in his care.

Another day he spoke with gratitude about the beauty of the nearby mosque where he often went to pray, which was soon followed by a note about how the same mosque had been badly damaged by missile strikes.

Another day he described the fear and dehumanisation he felt during a privately funded charity event. People were selectively invited to be fed and filmed while they ate and he wasn't allowed to bring his kids and didn't want to because he didn't trust the food. Neither would most people in that situation.

The story of this family and so many others was created by warmongering billionaires. The heart of the general public is still intact and while we pick up the pieces left by injustice, I'm routinely reminded of the 3.5 % rule:

The 3.5% rule is a concept in political science that states that when 3.5% of the population of a country protest nonviolently against an authoritarian government, that government is likely to fall from power.

Let's go!

We are vast and unbreakable when we commit to change. Give what you can and keep fighting for your life as the story of this family is part of your story too. This family is continuing to find ways to move forward. They deserve to thrive.