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Hala is a courageous young girl who is reaching out for you help.

Over the past year Hala and I have been WhatsApping. I am struck by her maturity determination and resilience. She wants to become doctor and for that she would need to pass her exams in December and study in Egypt next year. She would then return when Palestine is safe again.

But Hala’s immediate concern is shelter, food, clothes and water.

Every day she and her family have to search for what they need to survive- blankets, clean water, food and medicines. It seems that illness of at least one family member is a constant and visits to the hospital where they have very limited supplies of things like antibiotics is a weekly necessity.

Hala has been resilient and a source of strength for her parents as well as her siblings. She has lost many family members as well as her beloved 17 year old best friend. These losses have taken their toll on her and her family. But she stays determined and resilient.

She and her family tried hard to escape earlier this year but were ultimately thwarted by the Rafah crossing being closed to them.

Now they struggle every day living in cramped conditions with others they barely know. They hope to escape soon to Egypt but right now survival is their focus.

Please help Hala and her family with their day to day survival but also they want to raise the money that is needed to be able to study medicine in Egypt. Shatha was already enrolled in medical school when the war began and both Hala and Shatha are determined to become doctors in spite of their current situation.

We have sent money over to them and found a method that is reliable and efficient in that it doesn’t waste costs in high transfer fees or currency conversion. Please consider sending a small amount- even a little can make a big difference.

🌟 Support Hala's Journey: A Story of Hope ( from a friend and coach of Hala’s)

Hello friends, I'm reaching out to share something very close to my heart. Hala, and her sister Shetha, a dear friend and former student of mine, has launched a just giving campaign. As someone who has had the privilege of coaching both Hala and Shetha in storytelling, I've witnessed first hand their determination and courage in the face of adversity.

Three years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting their beautiful mother, and since then, they've become an integral part of my extended family. Hala's decision to start this campaign speaks volumes about her strength and the challenges she's facing.

Hala wouldn't be reaching out for help if she had any other option. Your donation, no matter the amount, can make a significant difference in her life. And if donating isn't feasible for you at the moment, you can still help tremendously by sharing this campaign with your network.

Together, let's rally around Hala and show her that she's not alone in this journey. Your kindness and generosity will go a long way in shaping a brighter future for her.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your consideration and support.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/luciewoodforHala?utm_term=AbpnYW2a5&fbclid=IwAR31DKISMdNorQXg2JemOi79fRB1Fgq9xC9he86DtO4xHjSG6952-sSDt80

P.S. If you'd like to learn more about their story, you can listen to and share her story below.

Let's spread the word and make a difference together. 🌟

https://worldstorytellingcafe.com/performances/michael-kerins-tells-stories-for-children-5/

Here is Hala's story in more detail followed by her family member's stories: ( written by Hala and her family)

I'm Hala Munther Fathi and I turned 17 years old during the war. All my ambition is to study and become a great doctor. I study hard and diligently. My average is 100% in the eleventh grade. I am now in my most difficult academic year, but I stopped because of the war. My peers are in the West Bank, which is in the same country. They will be at the university studying medicine and engineering, and I am studying in... nowhere…I have no school, why ? I don’t know? My future is lost. Every day more and more due to this war, more and more of my future is being lost. Therefore, all I hope for is to travel to study medicine, and I hope that this will come traue. Please help me and please help my family.

Please don’t ignore us here in Palestine!

Below are the stories of my loving family who I want to help:

Shatha Munther Salem: my older sister -shes 19 years old and was a first year student at the Faculty of Medicine when the war interrupted her studies. ‘I had just started to live my dream-the first one in our family to study to become a great surgeon-healing people to treat patients and to specialize in becoming a skilled heart surgeon or a specialist helping children. My greatest fear is that I might fall asleep and then wake up the next day to the tragic news of the martyrdom of a member of my family. It happened yesterday to our neighbours.

I am sick but there is no hospital to treat me because of the war. I pray someone might help me and my family. For that I will be forever grateful’.

Tamer Munther Fathi Salem: my brother -My younger brother is 16 years old and he was in the Eleventh grade for the scientific stream when the war began.

He hopes to live in peace and also to become a great doctor in the future. What I regret is my inability to study. I am an outstanding student with a grade point average of 99.8 in the tenth grade. I hope to travel to complete my studies. I pray that someone will read this and at least help my sisters and mother and father. I am a bookworm and very peaceful person. Im afraid the army will arrest me and think im a soldier and torture and kill me because I look much older than I am.

Rahaf Munther Fathi Salem: my little sister -She is 12 years old and is in the sixth grade of primary school.

She hopes to live in peace and tranquility and to play with her friends. ‘I missed the toys that I left at my house, and I missed my friends at school. I hope that I will be able to travel to become like my sister, a doctor, because I am (without wanting to be immodest!) also outstanding, like my brothers and sisters. And I want to visit beautiful gardens and build castles on the beach.

Muhammad Munther Fathi Salem: My little brother is aged 6 years he is our youngest family member. He attends Pre-kindergarten and he doesn’t understand what is happening or why. He is afraid.

What Muhammad hopes for: I hope to play in the street, see a Spiderman movie again. He will be happy if he doesn’t hear the sound of bombing any more and can live in safety.

Rawia Adel Hussein Al-Khalidi: She is my mother. She is 44 years and she studied English language at the Islamic University of Gaza and worked as a committed teacher in UNRWA schools before the war started.

She wants more than anything to live in safety and tranquility. ‘I want to feel reassured about the future of my children and not see them torn to pieces before my eyes. I cannot bear the thought of saying goodbye to them or even worse to see them die of hunger or cold without shelter. One of my greatest hopes was to see them as doctors saving the sick. I love each one of my children and admire their desire to serve humanity. Please help even just one of my children’.

Munther Fathi Salem: My father. He is 47 years old and works as a general manager in the Water and Quality Authority. He is a government employee, who holds a doctorate from Egypt in analytical chemistry and has worked as a lecturer in universities. He hopes to find work for him in any university abroad, given the destruction of all the universities that we have in Gaza.

Unfortunately he has a serious cartilage disease, so he suffers from intense back pain due to the herniated disc, and the slipping of the cartilage between two vertebrae in the spine, due to a medical defect during an operation he had. He hopes to receive treatment soon if we live and can get to a hospital outside Palestine.

My father, all he hopes for this life is that he sees us as doctors, and we work hard to achieve his dreams and our own dreams, as he has always tried to provide us with everything we wish for.

Please help our family if you can.