My name is Julia. I am a US Army Veteran and I am raising funds for my friend Shaima and her family, who have survived against all odds in Gaza for almost two years now.

As a US Army veteran from an Army family, I have witnessed the price of war. The trauma resulting from war has been felt for decades and will continue into the future to the next generation. This is true for my own family on a personal level, and it's true for many other families: American, Israeli, Palestinian. As nation-states play their games, there is suffering on an enormous scale.

My dear friend Shaima, her younger brother Aboud (pictured above) and many like her, feel the impacts of violence and the strivings of nation-states, not in an abstract sense, but in a very real sense. In Gaza, they suffer from limited food, water, electricity, and connectivity. There is no true safety to be found, as civilians are killed indiscriminately in the off chance that they may be "terrorists." There is little chance of leaving as a refugee, as this is dangerous, expensive, and offers little hope of legal recognition and rights. The people in Gaza are trapped. Shaima's young nieces and nephews have only ever experienced living in a place facing repression and violence. I shudder to think of the impacts on a young child's developing mind and body.

I met twenty-six-year-old Shaima a year and a half ago. Since we connected, we have shared life despite our different backgrounds and the miles between us. She is in Gaza and I am in the Southeastern US, but we have shared joys and sorrows, and gotten to know each other's families, hopes, and dreams.

Before the war, Shaima was a medical administrative assistant in Northern Gaza. Her dearest hope now is to one day be a mother, to provide love and nurturing to the next generation. Now, she and her family, including her parents, siblings, and many sweet young nieces and nephews, have been displaced several times, and have returned to the North, but often have to shelter with many other people in places like schools to avoid heavy bombing. To establish a sense of safety, comfort, and anything resembling a normal life is almost impossible.

But yet, she and her family continue to survive, and even thrive, despite everything they experience. They find laughter, they cook delicious food (when it's available), they nurture the children of the family. There is love. There is still hope.

It is with your help that Shaima and her family continue surviving in these hostile circumstances with joy and hope for the future. If you are able, please donate, so they may continue to dream.

All donations go directly to Shaima's family for food and other necessary living expenses.

Because of the scarcity of goods allowed to enter Gaza and many farms being destroyed, prices of goods are very inflated.

By donating $10, you can help Shaima's family purchase 1 lb (.5 kilo) of lentils.

By donating $25, you can help Shaima's family purchase 2.2 lb (1 kilo) of lentils.

By donating $30, you can help Shaima's family purchase a 2.2 lb (1 kilo) bag of flour.

By donating $35, you can help Shaima's family purchase a 2.2 lb (1 kilo) bag of rice.

By donating $120, you can help Shaima's family purchase a 2.2 lb (1 kilo) bag of sugar, which is needed because her mother has diabetes.

By donating $200, you can help provide Shaima's family a full bag of flour.

Your donation makes a huge difference for Shaima's family and provides them comfort in a time of fear and uncertainty.