With the daily barrage of horrific images coming out of Gaza, the shredding of international law, and the compounding injustices against the Palestinian people, some of us may be feeling powerless, not knowing what to do – paralyzed, even. But here is one way that you can make an immediate, tangible difference in someone’s life: please read and share Ghena’s story, and donate to her family if you can. Every bit helps.
Like 90% of the population in Gaza, Ghena and her family have been internally displaced – in their case multiple times – since October 2023. But lost in the sheer scale of destruction – the staggering death toll, the piles of rubble that fill the horizon, the mind-numbing statistics – are stories of the individual, their suffering, and their hopes and dreams. This is Ghena’s story, in her own words.
I dream of being a doctor in the future, and becoming a good person to benefit my compatriots and to get a safe home (that) me and my family live in
Hello friends, how are you? I’m Ghina, 15 years old, from Gaza. I live in a refugee camp. I’d like to share my story with you so my voice can reach the whole world. My first question is: My life was very beautiful. I lived in a simple house that held all our beautiful memories. It was me and my small family: my mother, my father, my sister Rose, my sister Diana, and my little brother Karim. I love Karim very much because he’s my only brother. My sisters and I used to go to Al-Anwar Refugee School. I used to get excellent grades, and I loved my studies, my friends, and my teachers. I lost them all because of the war. I used to spend most of my time with my family. Our income was limited, and my parents didn’t work. My father was a simple laborer, but he lost his job because of the war. The war affected us greatly, and we no longer have any source of income.
My current situation is that I live in a dilapidated and worn-out tent in a camp for displaced people. My school and the hospitals have been destroyed. I suffer from many hardships, including obtaining food, water, electricity, and medicine. We have to walk long distances to get water for bathing and drinking. The tent was destroyed by the wind, and with the high prices, we cannot afford to buy any food. With the opening of the crossings, food has started to enter, and the famine has begun to subside, but unfortunately, we have no source of income to buy food. We rely on your donations as our only source of income to obtain food, but thanks to your donations, my family and I are able to eat.
We need a tent that costs $400. We need blankets to protect us from the harsh cold of the tents, which has attacked the children’s bodies. We need six blankets, each costing $50, for me and my family. We also need gas to cook because the fire is truly suffocating. I suffer from sinusitis. A gas cylinder costs $180. My siblings, my father, and I are living in a tent. The hardest part is that two years of my life have passed without me attending school. There are expensive private lessons that my siblings and I cannot afford. When I see the students learning in these private lessons, I feel helpless. All the donations go towards food and drink, so we can’t afford the lessons. I worry about my brother Karim; he has been deprived of his childhood and the joys of it, like any other child. Several times the ceasefire has been broken, and there has been indiscriminate shelling from our neighborhood. We miraculously escaped death. I need to provide a decent and safe life for my family and me. If I can, I will collect donations to meet our basic needs and cover the cost of the lessons. Privacy for me and my brothers
I dream of becoming a good person in the future to benefit my compatriots, and to get a safe home, my family and I live in it in safety and peace. I hope to see you, my friends. All of it, I am in Gaza, in a big prison, we cannot get out of it. Please, any simple donation that makes a difference.
Palestijnen hebben wereldwijd op dagelijkse basis te maken met de ontkenning en bestrijding van hun identiteit. Wat doet dat met iemands ervaring van het leven? Wij spraken met Nederlandse Palestijnen over erkenning en een waardig menselijk bestaan in een wereld die hun vijandig is: ‘Ik ben aan het sterven, niet aan het leven’.
Cassandra: Miskenning Palestijnen hebben wereldwijd op dagelijkse basis te maken met de ontkenning en bestrijding van hun identiteit. Wat doet dat met iemands ervaring van het leven? Wij spraken met Nederlandse Palestijnen over erkenning en een waardig menselijk bestaan in een wereld die hun vijandig is: ‘Ik ben aan het