GazaSpiderman

6 DAYS PAST AHMED’S DEBT DEADLINE 💔

I’m honestly feeling very anxious about how difficult this has become.

We still need 12 people to give $25 to finish this installment, and we are now six days past the deadline. This is the second-to-last installment, with the final one due tomorrow, Thursday, around noon.

That means we have less than 24 hours before the next deadline arrives, while this installment is still not fully paid.

What worries me most is that Ahmed is barely getting what he needs each day. He doesn’t have enough money for food for very long, and whenever funds come in, we are constantly having to choose between getting him food and putting money toward the debt.

He needs both. And it is incredibly stressful having to choose.

I’m scared of this becoming the new normal because Ahmed still needs consistent support every week. We need to get this debt finished so that we can finally focus on making sure he has enough food and basic necessities without immediately having another deadline hanging over him.

I’m so grateful for the people who continue to show up for him. The handful of people who have donated recently have genuinely given me hope and relief during a very difficult time. I truly don't know what I would do without those of you who continue to stand beside Ahmed 🤍

I’m praying that more people who have supported him before will be able to help again, and that new people will find him and join his support system.

Please, if you can give $25 today, we need 12 people to do that to finish this installment. And if $25 isn't possible, even $5 or $10 helps us move closer.

Please keep Ahmed in your thoughts and prayers, and if you know someone who may be able to help, please consider sharing his fundraiser with them.

Thank you for continuing to show up for Ahmed ❤️‍🩹 Your support is what keeps us moving forward, especially on the days when everything feels so heavy

🙏🏼 God bless you.

I want to share something a little more personal today.

Lately, I’ve been feeling very anxious and overwhelmed. I’m going through a lot of difficult things in my own life, but even with everything I’m carrying, Ahmed remains one of the people I think about the most. He means so much to me, and knowing how much he is going through makes it very difficult for me to simply focus on my own problems.

And right now, there is a lot making me anxious about him.

We are now 3 days past Ahmed’s debt deadline for this week, and the installment still hasn’t been fully paid. We need just 18 people to give $25 and 1 person to give $8 to complete this installment.

At the same time, Ahmed is running out of money for food. Sometime today or tomorrow, he will have no funds left for food, and that is incredibly difficult for me to sit with knowing that the debt still needs to be finished.

Ahmed needs at least $125–$240 for food and basic necessities for the next few days while we work on finishing this installment and prepare for the next one, which is due Thursday.

So I’m feeling caught between wanting to get this debt paid as quickly as possible and knowing that Ahmed cannot simply wait for the debt to be finished before he eats. He has needs right now too.

I think what has been weighing on me the most is that there simply aren't as many people donating anymore, especially not as many new people finding Ahmed and joining his support. Because these needs come up every single week, relying on the same small handful of consistent donors can become a lot to ask of them.

And I understand why. People are tired. Everyone has their own struggles, and after so much time, constantly seeing suffering can become overwhelming. I sometimes worry that people are getting tired of the updates or that people are becoming exhausted from hearing about Gaza.

But when you are watching someone you love struggle to survive, that decrease in support is frightening.

And honestly, I’m especially worried about Ahmed emotionally right now.

This has been going on for so long. He has lost so much, endured so much, and had so little opportunity to actually process any of it. I feel like the longer this continues, the more the grief and everything he has lost starts to catch up with him. And when there is less support around him, everything can feel even more hopeless.

I think sometimes people forget that the people in Gaza are not only struggling to find food or pay for necessities. They are also living through an unimaginable amount of grief, fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty every single day.

Even those of us advocating from outside Gaza are starting to feel scared and exhausted. There are moments when I feel hopeless too, and I worry about what is going to happen next.

But then I remember the people who are still here.

The people who continue donating. The people who share Ahmed’s story. The people who check in, leave kind messages, and refuse to look away.

You may not realize how much that means.

Every time someone shows up for Ahmed, it reminds both of us that there are still people who care. It gives us a little more strength to keep going and a little more hope that somehow, someday soon, there will be an opportunity for Ahmed and others like him to leave Gaza and finally begin rebuilding their lives.

I don't want this update to sound hopeless, because that isn't what I feel when I think about the people who continue to stand beside him.

I think I’m just tired and scared, and I wanted to be honest about that.

Things feel much heavier when it seems like fewer people are there. But the people who remain can make an enormous difference.

Thank you to everyone who has donated, shared, checked on Ahmed, or simply continued to care. You are a bigger part of keeping him going than you probably realize 🤍

Please keep showing up for him if you can. Right now, he needs us to help finish this debt and make sure he has food for the days ahead. We are still here, still hoping, and still believing that something better is possible 🙏🏼

Ahmed urgently needs support today 💔

Right now, Ahmed has no funds for food or basic essentials, and we urgently need to raise $115 today so he can eat and get through the next couple of days 🙏🏼

At the same time, his $550 debt installment is due today. We were only able to cover last week’s installment 6 days after the deadline, and although we’re incredibly grateful that it was finally paid, it means this week’s payment is likely to be late as well 💔

It’s really stressful knowing Ahmed is worrying about both having enough food to eat and being under pressure from the debt 😢

If you can help today, please give whatever you can. Even $5, $10, or $25 makes a difference. If 22 people gave $25, that would cover the full weekly installment, but the immediate need right now is $115 for food and essentials 🙏🏼

Please do what you can for Ahmed today. Thank you for continuing to be here for him and for caring about what he’s going through 🤍

God bless you 🙏🏼

I want to be honest with you about where things are right now because I'm feeling incredibly sad anxious and defeated 💔

It feels like fewer and fewer people are seeing my posts on Instagram, which makes it much harder to reach new donors. At this point, I'm mostly putting my hope in the people who have already supported Ahmed here, because I honestly don't know who else will find us.

We are now 5 days past Ahmed's debt deadline and still need $125 to finish this installment. And unfortunately, this isn't even the end. There are still 2 more weekly installments after this one, with the next $550 installment due in about 48 hours.

At the same time, Ahmed is out of money for food and has been since yesterday. I'm trying to figure out how to make sure he can eat while also trying to keep up with these debt payments, and it all feels overwhelming.

Ahmed has been feeling really down lately too. When you're living through something this difficult every single day, constantly waiting to see what happens next, it becomes harder and harder to hold onto hope. He lost his family, and when things become quiet, everything comes back to him. He tries to keep himself distracted through music, parkour, and spending time with his friends, but underneath all of that, there is so much grief and exhaustion.

I want more than anything to be able to give him some sense of safety and hope. I want him to have food, to have his basic needs met, to have moments where he isn't constantly worrying about what comes next. And honestly, it's becoming difficult for me to give him hope when I don't know what is going to happen either.

I'm also heartbroken because I truly believed that if enough people cared, we could eventually find a way to get Ahmed out of Gaza. I have spent so much time asking myself, "How can I possibly raise $25,000?" and I still don't have an answer.

There doesn't seem to be a straightforward path for him to leave, and the possible routes are incredibly difficult and expensive. It breaks my heart to think that after everything he's survived, he could end up believing that no matter how hard he tries to keep going, no one is coming to help him build a life outside of this.

I know that $25,000 feels like an enormous amount, and I know not everyone can contribute toward something that large. But if there were enough people who cared enough to say, "What can we do? How can we help get him out?", maybe we could actually begin looking for a way.

For now, though, we have to keep dealing with what is immediately in front of us.

We need $125 to finish this week's debt, the next $550 is due in about 48 hours, and Ahmed needs food now.

I'm incredibly grateful to every person who has shown up for him. Truly. I don't take any of your support for granted. ❤️‍🩹

If you're able to donate even $5 or $10, it matters. And if you can't donate, sharing Ahmed's story with someone who might be able to help would mean so much to me.

I'm scared, I'm exhausted, and I'm trying very hard not to lose hope. I just want Ahmed to be okay. 💔

Thank you for being here with us. 🙏🏼