*THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF DIRECT AID EFFORTS FOR THE NASSER FAMILY, MOVED OVER FROM GOFUNDME* -Kelsey
I would like for you to meet the Nasser family. This is Mila Nasser, who is now 6.
This is Ayla, who is now 4.
Their parents are Ahmad and Basand, pictured in the family photo below along with their stepson, Abdullah.
They lived in a beautiful house they had built with an engineer in the north of Gaza. As a young family raising their two children, they lived happily and safely.
After the invasion, they fled for their lives to Rafah. Their home was destroyed by airstrikes. Basand lost everything: members of her family, her house and everything in it, her money and the comforts of her life.
Due to Israel and the West’s forced famine and the calculated siege of Gaza, she struggles to find basic necessities. In the past few weeks, the situation has become dire with threats of a ground invasion in Rafah, where they are staying in a tent.
In Basand’s own words, she would like to say to you:
Hello, I am in Basand from Gaza. Sorry, I am writing to you. I hope you can help me buy milk, clothes, and food for my children. My house was bombed and destroyed, and I lost everything in it, my money, my clothes, and everything, even my relatives, may God have mercy on them. Now, we will live in a tent in a school in Rafah. We are tired of hunger, humiliation, and need. For God’s sake, if you can help us with anything we can, we just walk through these days. By God, I have not let me send anything to you except the need and the harsh situation in which we live. May God protect you and honor you.
May God make you feel comfortable. I am in need of money. By God, I do not have a shekel. I do not want to remain in this famine, poverty, destruction and siege. I am only required to have an entry permit so that I and my children can travel outside Gaza, please.
How the Funds Shall be Used:
The Nasser family needs us to raise $50,000 dollars for the safe passage into Egypt of Mila, Ayla, Ahmad, Basand and her stepson, Abdullah, so they are all safe from immediate danger (5,000 - 7,000 x 5 = $25,000 - 35,000) . In addition, some of the funds will be used to buy what basic necessities they can find that are available for purchase, like milk, food, and medicine (Unknown total due to the fluctuation in available aid and cost of goods, but we would set aside about $5,000). Finally, they will need accommodations once out of Gaza, which accounts for the last $10,000.
The money will be directly wired to the Nasser family.
Who I am and How I Know Basand:
My name is Kelsey and I am from the US. I began advocating online for Palestine after Oct 7, which is where the messages between myself and Basand began. Over the months of trying different ways to help her, I have come to know Basand deeply. She and her family have a seat at my table.
Please help the Nasser family survive this genocide. No human being deserves to endure the pain and suffering Palestinians have had to endure. As the world fights to change the fate of Palestine, it is up to us as individuals to stand up, reach out our hands and grasp the hands of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Please reach out your hand to help the Nasser family survive.
To exemplify how much your small donations help, because of them we were recently able to provide Mila with a surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids, which were so swollen they kept her awake at night, cause severe sleep apnea where she would stop breathing in her sleep, and kept her from eating food properly because everything hurt.
