Support the Kafina Family of Gaza to Rebuild Their Lives

Dear all,

My name is Marion, and I am a humanitarian worker. I am launching and facilitating this Go Fund Me campaign on behalf of Mohammad Kafina (goes by Kafina), a very dear friend and colleague in Gaza. Over the last seven months, Kafina, together with his wife, Fatima, and three children, Youssef, Kanan and Tulin, have endured tremendous grief, insecurity, and loss, with the killing of 33 family members to date, and numerous dangerous displacements from one shelter to another. Most recently, their home and everything in it was brought to rubble. I'm sharing below some photos of their home before and after the destruction. Please also see below some photos of their home and family both before and after the destruction, as well as a letter coming directly from Kafina and his family, so you can hear from them directly.

Kafina and Fatima, both longtime humanitarian workers in Gaza, have spent years giving to their communities both professionally and personally. Let this be a chance for us to be there for them.

While working together as humanitarian workers, I have witnessed and admired Kafina in his capacity as a brilliant psychology, mental health and psychosocial support professional. Alongside his full time humanitarian job, he has also been in the process of pursuing a PhD in mental health - a degree which he is now at risk of not being able to complete. With harmful psychological impacts in children and adults alike more prevalent and acute than ever in Gaza, Kafina’s expertise will be needed more than ever. In that sense, supporting Kafina and his family, means supporting so many others.

I hope you will consider supporting - any donation, even small, can make a world of a difference. As Kafina writes below, it's not only about the money, but about letting them know they are not alone, and that hope prevails.

I will receive the funds in my US bank account and transfer them to Kafina's bank account. The funds will support both the family’s immediate critical needs as well as help them rebuild their lives, be that in or out of Gaza depending on the circumstances in the coming months. This may include basic, immediate needs including shelter, food, and medicine; supporting some of the costs of rebuilding/putting back together a home, and, IF the family does/is able to evacuate Gaza, the evacuation fees (currently standing at $5,000-7,500 per person), visas, and other travel costs as needed.

If you have any questions on the specifics, please let me know. And if you cannot donate at this time, we'll still greatly appreciate if you can share this Go Fund Me with your networks.

Best,

Marion

Letter from Kafina and family (English and Arabic translations both included below)

Dear Friends, Colleagues, community members, and Humanitarians,

We are the Kafina family from Gaza, a family of five residing in the Al-Salhi Towers in Nusairat Camp in the Middle of Gaza Strip, seeking your solidarity in a time of relentless hardship. Our normalcy was once marked by my wife Fatima and I going to our humanitarian jobs, while our children, Youssef (14), Kanan (12), and Tulin (11), ventured to school with bright, eager minds.

Fatima has spent 14 years nurturing the war orphans of 2009, while I've provided psychological support within the community for 23 years and completing postgraduate studies at universities, often at great personal risk. Our children, studying in both private and UNRWA-affiliated schools, had their aspirations halted seven months ago when war yet again scarred our land.

That war took 33 of our family members and razed our home. We became refugees in our own city, our quest for safety a haunting ordeal with every shelter we sought turned into a target. The peace of Eid morning was ripped away by bombardment, leading to a heart-wrenching evacuation as my family fled amidst tears and terror.

The Israeli army's call to evacuate rendered our 25 years of building a life into ruins—a home lovingly built, brimming with the children’s toys, schoolbooks, beautiful home furniture, and the quiet moments of our life together, all destroyed.

Now, we find ourselves embodying the very vulnerability we've worked to protect in others. The shock and trauma are daily companions, and the absence of a safe shelter looms large over our reality. Our children's resilience shines as they carry water and essentials over distances that no young soul should endure.

We've given our lives to Gaza's marginalized. We've also put so much over the years into creating a safe, beautiful home for our family in Gaza. A home which is now lost. Yet, in the face of such trials, we remain committed to our community's well-being.

Imagine, if only for a moment, your sanctuary being swept away. Let that empathy guide you to lend us support as we strive for a stable shelter, to rebuild, to recover, and to live with peace and dignity once again.

Your donation is more than aid; it's a message to us that hope prevails, that we are not forsaken, and that humanity endures in the kindness of others. Help the Kafina family restore what was taken and begin anew.

ترجمة باللغة العربية

نحن عائلة كفينة من غزة، عائلة مكونة من خمسة أفراد نقيم في أبراج الصالحي بمخيم النصيرات وسط قطاع غزة، نسعى لتضامنكم في وقت الشدائد المستمرة. تميزت حياتنا الطبيعية ذات يوم بذهابنا أنا وزوجتي فاطمة إلى وظائفنا الإنسانية، بينما ذهب أطفالنا يوسف (14 عامًا) وكنان (12 عامًا) وتولين (11 عامًا) إلى المدرسة بعقول مشرقة ومتحمسة.

لقد أمضت فاطمة 14 عامًا في رعاية أيتام الحرب في عام 2009، بينما قدمت أنا الدعم النفسي داخل المجتمعات لمدة 23 عامًا واكمال الدراسات العليا في الجامعات، وغالبًا ما كان ذلك في خطر شخصي كبير. أطفالنا، الذين يدرسون في المدارس الخاصة والمدارس التابعة للأونروا، توقفت تطلعاتهم منذ سبعة أشهر عندما شوهت الحرب أرضنا مرة أخرى.

لقد أخذت تلك الحرب 33 من أفراد عائلتنا ودمرت منزلنا. لقد أصبحنا لاجئين في مدينتنا، وكان سعينا للحصول على الأمان بمثابة محنة مؤلمة حيث تحول كل مأوى بحثنا عنه إلى هدف. لقد مزق القصف هدوء صباح العيد، مما أدى إلى إخلاء مؤلم للقلب بينما فرت عائلتي وسط الدموع والرعب.

لقد حولت دعوة الجيش الإسرائيلي للإخلاء حياتنا التي دامت 25 عاما من البناء إلى أنقاض - منزل بني بمحبة، ومليء بألعاب الأطفال، والكتب المدرسية، والأثاث المنزلي الجميل واللحظات الهادئة من حياتنا معا، كلها دمرت.

الآن، نجد أنفسنا نجسد نقطة الضعف والهشاشة ذاتها التي عملنا على حمايتها لدى الآخرين. الصدمة والصدمة رفاق يوميّين، وغياب المأوى الآمن يخيم على واقعنا. تتألق مرونة أطفالنا وهم يحملون الماء والضروريات لمسافات لا ينبغي أن تتحملها أي روح صغيرة.

لقد وهبنا حياتنا للمهمشين في غزة، و استثمرنا الكثير لإنشاء ملجأ مفقود الآن. ومع ذلك، وفي مواجهة مثل هذه التجارب، فإننا نظل ملتزمين برفاهية مجتمعنا.

تخيل، ولو للحظة واحدة، أن ملجأك قد جرف. دع هذا التعاطف يرشدك إلى تقديم الدعم لنا ونحن نسعى جاهدين من أجل توفير مأوى مستقر، وإعادة البناء، والتعافي، والعيش مرة أخرى بسلام وكرامة.

تبرعك أكثر من مجرد مساعدات؛ إنها رسالة لنا أن الأمل ينتصر، وأننا لا نتخلى عنا، وأن الإنسانية تدوم بلطف الآخرين. ساعد عائلة كافينا على استعادة ما تم أخذه والبدء من جديد.