Together for a New Life: Help Mahmoud's Family in Gaza

Hello, I’m Shay Walker and I live in NYC. I’m writing to you from the heart...I’m raising funds for my dear friend Mahmoud Fayeq Abu Tawela, an 18-year-old from northern Gaza, who, along with his family of eight, is living under unimaginable humanitarian conditions. This is not just a fundraiser; it’s a cry for life, for survival.

These are Mahmoud’s own words. I hope they touch your heart the way they touched mine:

“My name is Mahmoud Faiq Abu Tawela, and I’m 18 years old. I was a high school student at Jamal Abdel Nasser School in northeastern Gaza and had big dreams of working in technology. I loved my school; it was my safe space. But it didn’t survive the war. It was completely destroyed, and my dreams were buried with it.

I’m the middle child in a family of eight: My older brother Mohammad is 20, my younger brother Zein is 15, my little brother Abdulrahman is 8, my sister Rawand is 22 and married and has a beautiful baby named Ahmed. He was born just three days before the war began on October 7th. He has known nothing but war since the moment he came into this world. My sister Rimas is 11, and my beloved parents are the pillars of our lives.

For over a year and a half, we’ve been living through a relentless war that has destroyed every part of our lives. My father used to work tirelessly to support us, but the war has taken away his job, our only source of income.

Before the war, I used to study hard despite the hardships and worked during the summer to help my family. I even managed to buy a few tools to develop my skills in tech. We were a simple family dreaming, planning, and loving life despite everything.

But everything changed overnight.

October 7, 2023: The day I lost everything. That cursed day was when the war began. Suddenly, we lost safety, our home, our school, our neighborhood, even pieces of ourselves.

On October 19, just thirteen days into the war, we were ordered to evacuate our neighborhood in Shuja’iyya at 9 p.m. without delay. We didn’t even have time to say goodbye to the walls of our home or grab a few belongings to comfort us.

We fled into the darkness, running for our lives as bombs fell around us. The city was being torn apart before our eyes. It felt like a nightmare from a war movie.

I’ll never forget the terror in my little brother Abdulrahman’s face. He was trembling, sobbing, and kept screaming, “I don’t want to die.” He clung to me, thinking I could protect him, but the truth is I needed that protection just as much.

His biggest heartbreak was his cat. When we were told to evacuate, we couldn’t find it. We had to leave without it. He kept asking, “Where’s my cat?” crying for it the whole way.

My mother was praying for our safety, and my father tried to comfort us with his usual calming words. We wished the night would end. But when morning came, and we saw the ruins of our city and our home, we wished the night had never ended.

There was nothing left, just rubble, destruction, and unbearable pain. Constant displacement, and death lurking everywhere.

We fled to western Gaza, then to the center, then to Deir al-Balah, Rafah, Nuseirat, back to Deir al-Balah, and again to Nuseirat. There’s no safe place. Every place we go becomes a target. We’re trapped in a cycle of endless displacement.

Eventually, we returned to our home in northern Gaza only to find it reduced to rubble. With no shelter, we built a tent over the ruins of our home, trying to protect ourselves from the cold and the fear. But even after returning, we were forced to flee again to western Gaza just three months later.

We live every day without enough food, clean water, electricity, medicine, or cooking gas. We are surviving with no basic necessities.

Every day… we lose something.

Every day… another child dies of hunger.

Why am I asking for your help? Because of the ongoing siege and the total collapse of Gaza’s economy, we’re struggling just to survive. There are days when we have absolutely nothing to eat. Prices have skyrocketed, and the rare humanitarian aid that does arrive is often looted and sold at prices we cannot afford. On top of hunger and poverty, we live under the constant threat of airstrikes that keep us awake at night and deepen our suffering.

I launched this campaign because I have no other option left. I put my hope in God and in your kind hearts. The funds I raise will be used to buy food, water, vegetables, flour, and other basic needs for my family.

Every donation, no matter how small, is a light of hope in our darkness. I ask everyone reading this now to please help me save my family from this unbearable suffering.

Donate whatever you can. Share our story on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. Tell your friends. Send the link to your family.

Every share, every donation, every word of support, could be the difference between life and death for us.

Give us a chance at a new life.

I know the world is full of pain, but if our story has reached you, it means you have the power to make a difference."

How will the funds be delivered? Donations will go directly to Mahmoud and his family via PayPal, and I, Shay, will post campaign updates to ensure full transparency.

From my heart, and from Mahmoud’s and his family’s hearts,

Thank you, for still being human.

Mahmoud’s Instagram: @its.3.m

Shay's Instagram: @sistersludge