Elham was introduced to me by my long-time friend, Bayan - who expressed sincere worry about the family’s situation. Elham is a mother of five, but only three of her children are alive. Her husband and two of her children were tragically martyred by the occupation at the onset of this period of genocide. Please read her words, as she explains her situation:
“I am a mother of five children, but only three of them remain alive.
Abdulrahman, my 13-year-old son, carries the burdens of a man far beyond his age.
Majed, who is 9 years old, tries to smile despite the hunger and exhaustion he endures.
And Hadeel, my little girl who is seven, asks me every night with innocence:
"When will we go back home?"
But I no longer have an answer.
I lost two of my children under the rubble—
Sama, a flower who was not yet nine, and Mousa, my little boy who was barely three.
They left me, and after a long time, I was finally able to recover them from beneath the debris and bury them. But I had to sell the gold I owned to pay for their recovery and burial.
We now live in a tent that does not protect us from the scorching summer heat or the bitter winter cold.
We lack the most basic necessities of life: food, water, medicine, and safety.
Even the milk that Hadeel asks for, I cannot provide for her.
The pain has become too heavy-my tears have dried up…”
Please really internalize what you’ve just read- this is a wife who had her spouse stolen; a mother who had two children stolen…imagine her grief and despair…and now has three children who look to her amidst ongoing man-made famine and deliberate starvation by the occupation. They ask her for food she does not have and her heart breaks day after day.
This campaign will be an opportunity for them to access some funds—there is SOME food available, it isn’t much and it’s extremely expensive- they cannot survive without our help. Please know that every donation of any size is meaningful.
