My name is Abdul Rahim, I work in restaurant management in Gaza, I am also a pastry maker and I train, qualify and develop the skills of young people to work in the restaurant field.
Today I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Iman, and two beautiful children, Adam and Sanad. As I write these words, warplanes and drones hover above us without stopping from their annoying sound, I hug my children to distract them from the continuous and terrifying sounds of bombing and destruction around us.
I worked hard to build my career here and I am proud of my ability to build a home for my family. The Israeli occupation destroyed our home in October, as well as the restaurants where I and my colleagues worked.
In the second week of October 2023, my family was forced to evacuate Gaza City to Deir al-Balah due to the heavy bombing in our surroundings, then we were forced to flee again to Al-Zawaida, then to Deir al-Balah again, then to Al-Nuseirat. Displacement is exhausting and painful, especially for my mother, father and children.
Now, my wife, children, mother, father, brothers, uncle and his wife, we all live in one tent because it is the only option. In the fourth week of February 2024, an entire square around us was bombed by Israeli warplanes. At home, I saw nothing. The atmosphere was filled with gunpowder and dust. I started screaming for my children. Sanad was playing next to me and Adam was sleeping next to my wife. I screamed at the top of my lungs looking for them and turned on a small flashlight and started searching for them quickly until I found them. These are difficult and unforgettable moments. My child Adam sustained three injuries. The first was in his spine, which led to two broken vertebrae. The second was in his head, which led to a skull fracture. The third was in his chest, which led to internal bleeding. He needed rapid intervention from medical staff to save his life. After that, he had to stay in the hospital for several weeks to receive treatment, but he is still suffering. As for Sanad, a shrapnel hit his chest. We are still living in harsh conditions in the tents. We are facing a difficult conditions, and aid is being prevented from entering, so we lack basic necessities, water and food. Because we ran away from our homes with only the clothes on our backs, we have none of our belongings to deal with the harsh conditions.
The feeling of losing everything you have in a moment is like running barefoot through a forest of thorns without knowing where it will end and what you will face next. I am doing my best to keep my family safe but there is so much we do not know. We hope that this nightmare will end every day so that we can return to our homes or what is left of them and rebuild them. My children want to return to their home and their toys, and I hope to help them pursue their dreams and achieve them.
The money raised will help complete the treatment of my son Adam who is still receiving treatment and rehabilitation and will help my family survive with everything needed on the ground. Wood and coal, food, clean drinking water, diapers, detergents, mattresses, and winter clothes especially for the children.
Also housing and rebuilding our lives.
And if the war continues... traveling abroad will be the best solution in an attempt to survive the war that does not spare anyone. We talk to our children and remember the good times in our house, where we used to sit, play and spend time together. My son Adam tells me that he wants his room and his bike back, small dreams that I will try to achieve again.
However, we do not lose hope. My children are my strength and my faith in God gives me patience.
Thank you very much in advance.