Support Nour Eleyan's Journey to Safety; Out of Gaza

Hi, my name is Enas Culhane. I am a USF Master's student studying Global Sustainability and a graduate of the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies. I currently reside with my husband and our child in Florida. I am originally from the West Bank/ Palestine; my entire family still lives there. I am fundraising for our family friend, Nour Eleyan, who is currently in Gaza.

Nour is a 25-year-old Palestinian woman with great compassion and scholastic ambition caught in tragic circumstances. She is from Gaza, and right now is struggling to survive. She seeks to escape the war with her family and go somewhere safe to secure a better future for herself and her loved ones. I've known Nour for about three years now, through the close bond she formed with my family in the West Bank.

Nour had plans to leave Gaza after completing her bachelor's degree in dentistry, which she was expected to receive last December. However, her university, like many other educational institutions, was destroyed during these recent upheavals. Sadly, Nour, like all Gazans, has been enduring this nightmare since last October and has lost many members of her family already. Unfortunately, she is still unable to leave due to all sorts of restrictions, especially the costs of leaving the Gaza Strip and traveling to safety. Nour has family members in Jordan whom she and her family are hoping to live in safety with if they are able to successfully exit Gaza. Nour and all of her family members have valid passports and will be ready to travel as soon as they will be able to.

Please help us with this fundraising. We will transfer the funds via Western Union. Nour Eleyan is now trapped in central Gaza using the little money we were able to collect from our small circle of friends and family to purchase food and medicine. I will be transferring the funds we raise to Nour via our family in the West Bank who then use the local bank to transfer the money to Nour and her family members.

Here is Nour sharing a little of her story;

Nour's story:

"In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. My name is Nour Ahmad Eleyan from Gaza. I was studying dentistry in the last semester when the war broke out, and my studies were halted. We faced multiple massacres, and I lost my brother, my nephew, my niece's son, my uncle, my aunt, and my aunt's daughters.

At the beginning of the war, my sister was injured and still suffers from complications, while I also sustained injuries and was rescued from under the rubble. The invasion reached the Al-Maghazi camp for 30 days, and we were displaced to Deir al-Balah in tents. It was the hardest time, filled with illness, mental exhaustion, lack of food, and medicine.

We returned home after three months in the tents without any assistance and without being able to access any of the little humanitarian aid that entered Gaza. A month after I returned to our house, the neighbor's house was bombed while my brother and I were cooking on the fire. As the bombing occurred, I fainted, and my brother was killed. A week later, there was a direct bombing of agricultural land behind our house without any warning, our house was bombed and leveled to the ground. At the time of the bombing I was outside the house at the door, and I fainted while my aunt, her daughters, her son, and my uncle were killed. I got injured and I was in critical condition but thankfully I recovered. Two weeks later, we rented an apartment because our house was completely destroyed. Some neighbors were bombed, and there was damage to our rented house, and the glass windows caused injuries to my hands.

I have lost so many lives and futures. I can no longer bear the massacres from which god saved me four times. I am trying to leave Gaza with my family, but we lack the means to pay for travel. I was already responsible for three orphaned children, my sister's kids ( Mohammed 13, Round 12, Alaa 10 ), who, due to the perpetually poor road conditions, died in a car accident five months before the war. I hope to save myself and what remains of my family and get outside of Gaza. My family consists of 8 people, including 5 children who have contracted hepatitis due to the lack of clean water and healthy food. Thank you to everyone who stands with me and helped save us from death. I hope to see Gaza in peace before I lose myself and my family. This is just a glimpse of our difficult lives, and this is how I end my story for now.

Peace and gratitude,

Nour Eleyan "

The eight family members:

Mohammed Eleyan, 30 ( Nour's brother)

Nour Eleyan, 25

Samira Eleyan, 24 ( Nour's sister in law)

Mohammed Rafiq, 13 ( Nour's orphaned nephew)

Round Rafiq, 12 (Nour's orphaned niece)

Alaa Rafiq, 10 ( Nour's orphaned nephew)

Lana Eleyan, 7 (Nour's niece)

Minh allah Eleyan, 4 (Nour's niece)

How the funds will be spent:

Thank you so very much for your time, kindness, and generous donations.

With Love and appreciation,

Nour and Enas