This is an appeal to support a family in Gaza, currently living in a tent in a displacement camp in Khan Younis, to install a solar system as an income generation project, while providing a crucial service to the community of tent dwellers living around them.

While in conversation with the family on how they can generate a meager income to keep them alive, we learned that they spend 4-5 hours every day at a solar charging station in an adjacent community to charge their phones (which are crucial given Israel does not allow currency to enter Gaza so electronic payments are filling the gap, where possible). Also, given there is no electricity for nearly three years now, they must charge a flashlight every day, and, if available, they can refrigerate a bottle of water. Here are the charging prices:

We seek to raise US$14,500 (current amount raised $2,354.05 / $14,500 (16.2%), updated daily), all which will be sent directly to the family in Gaza in order to purchase and install a solar system from a Gaza-based supplier. The price is 3x more than what it would have cost before Oct 7, 2023, but the need today is more dire than ever.

Here is their story, as narrated to me over multiple messages from the woman of the household, who I will call here, R, to protect her privacy, and dignity.

R is married to M, a primary school teacher who lost his job before Oct. 7 and is currently unemployed. R earned a degree in psychological and education counseling from Al Azhar University Gaza. She lost her job as a counselor at a school on Oct. 7, 2023. R is a 32-year-old mother of two small children, a daughter, N, 5-years old, and a son, Z, 2-years old and born three months after Oct 7. Before Oct. 7th they lived in a modest home in the Jabalya Refugee Camp, one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, located in the North Gaza Governorate.

Their apartment in Jabalya was on top of a simple 2-storey building. The apartment did not exceed 70 square meters and the ceiling was made from aluminum sheets, zinco, which exposed them to the heat and cold. R notes that, although modest, they lived in safety and within beautiful walls which afforded them a stable life.

That all changed on October 7, 2023!

In the aftermath of October 7th and the ensuing genocidal campaign by Israel, the Jabalya Refugee Camp was leveled, including R and M's home. Here is a photo of their home after it was destroyed in April 2024.

Fearing for their lives, they fled their house with their two children under intense bombing on October 14, 2023. The following is what they were able to take with them as they headed to a displacement camp, believing that they would be able to return home in a week or so.

The following was their first stop, a tent in a displacement camp; a space 2x3 square meters. This would be the first of "15 displacements! Each move was met with weight of the moment, tears, hunger, pain and a sense of deep loss."

Here are two clips of their living conditions during displacement:

In this clip the young girl is their beautiful daughter, N:

In one of their displacement, they were able to secure a larger tent:

The message R inserted in this image says how much their largest dream in Gaza today is for a cold glass of water during the scorching summer heat.

HOW TO SUPPORT

If you would like to support this effort to get a solar system setup so R and M can provide service to their tent community please donate here. There is no NGO or 501(c)(3) behind this effort. No banks outside of Palestine will make a bank transfer to Gaza. Therefore, as we have done before, donation can be made via the methods listed at ePalestine.ps. Every cent is transferred to the family and will be verified received by them. There are no fees or administrative costs.

THIS IS SIMPLY ONE PALESTINIAN IN THE WEST BANK TRYING TO SUPPORT ONE PALESTINIAN FAMILY IN GAZA.

Thank you!

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Tagged with: displacement • Gaza • Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) • Israeli occupation • refugee camps • solar • tent

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