Help Bahiya Care for Her Family and Rebuild Hope 138245

My name is Bahiya Akram, from Gaza, and I'm 20 years old.
I never imagined I'd seek help to save myself and this horror, but this is my last chance! 💔

I'm living in the midst of a tragedy that is beyond my capacity and endurance. I carry responsibilities far greater than my age and strength. I have four younger brothers and sisters, and my father suffers from a mental illness that has rendered him completely unable to move and handle the simplest aspects of his life. He requires constant care and continuous medication. 🧠

Since childhood, I've found myself compelled to be their mother, sister, provider, and warm embrace. I gave up my small dreams and childhood moments to provide them with as much security as I could. Despite the harsh circumstances that surrounded us, I didn't allow despair to overcome me. I completed my high school education with distinction, achieving a grade of 97%. My greatest dream was to study nursing to secure a decent job to support my family and create for them the life they deserve after all this deprivation. 🎓

But the war, with all its cruelty, came like a violent storm that uprooted everything. It left us with no dreams, no homes, and no security. Life around us came to a standstill, hope was lost, and I could no longer find work or a source of income that would guarantee us even a piece of bread to satisfy our hunger. 🍞

We endured killing, hunger, destruction, cold, heat, and constant displacement. We endured loss, bereavement, longing, pain, fear, and anxiety for more than 650 days, living in a tent that provided no protection from the cold or the heat. Life in Gaza has become unbearably expensive. Nothing is cheap here except death. Everything we need has become scarce and impossibly expensive: food, medicine, water, clothing, even the simplest hygiene items.

Today, I am not writing these words just for myself, but for my siblings, whom I did not give birth to, but whom I raised and for whom I became a mother, father, and support. All I hope for is a caring hand reaching out to us, a door of hope opening for us once again. 🙏 I dream of being able to provide them with a livelihood, medicine, and shelter, and to one day return to my dream of becoming a nurse, serving my country, protecting my family, and restoring their dignity, which was stolen by war.

Help me protect them, restore some of their stolen childhood, and allow myself to live as a human being with the right to hope and life.