A Message from the Heart — Help Rami and His Family Find a Way Forward.

A Message from the Heart — Help Rami and His Family Find a Way Forward.

My name is Rami Hamad Al-Obaid. I am 36 years old, a Palestinian husband and father of two little girls, Azhar, who is four years old, and Raneem, who is only two. I am not writing this to ask for pity. I am writing to ask for a chance to live with dignity.

My journey with pain began when I was just a child. In 1996, when I was about six years old, I was playing with other children in my grandmother’s courtyard in Al-Baraka village, near Deir al-Balah. I fell while playing and suffered a serious fracture to my right hand. At that time, medical care was extremely limited in our area, and difficult circumstances delayed the arrival of the ambulance.

What began as a childhood accident became a permanent disability that has remained with me throughout my life. I underwent several surgeries, but my hand never recovered. I grew up trying to live like everyone else. I completed high school, but poverty and my disability prevented me from continuing to university. I tried to learn and work in whatever way I could.

Eventually, I began selling small items and children’s sweets as a street vendor, simply to help my family put food on the table. But life was not kind. I was often bullied and mocked because of my disability. Some words hurt more deeply than the physical pain. I tried to remain strong, but I am human. I have feelings, dreams, and a heart that has been carrying these wounds for many years.

Then, in 2018, another tragedy changed my life. I was shot in my left leg, leaving me with another permanent disability. I underwent several operations in Gaza, but because of limited medical resources, the treatment was not successful. I still have metal rods in my leg and suffer from foot drop. I need specialized treatment outside Palestine to have a better chance of walking properly again.

Today, I do not carry this pain alone. I am a husband and a father. My wife is 34 years old, and our two little daughters have done nothing to deserve the hardships they have been forced to endure. I named my eldest daughter Azhar after my late mother, whom we lost after she became ill with COVID-19. My youngest daughter, Raneem, is only two years old. She still looks at the world with the innocence of a child who knows nothing about how difficult life can be. The war has taken away many of the simplest things my daughters deserve: safety, a stable home, healthcare, warmth, and the chance to grow up like children everywhere else in the world.

Today, we live in a modest tent that does not adequately protect us from the heat of summer or the cold of winter. During the summer, my daughters have also suffered from insect bites and need medical care, medicine, and basic necessities — the same things every child should have. I am not asking for a luxurious life. I am simply asking for the chance to live, to support my wife, to protect my daughters, and to receive the medical treatment I need to walk with less pain.

Perhaps $5 may seem like a small amount to you. But for a family struggling to survive, it can mean food for a child, medicine, or another essential need for one more day. If you can donate, no matter how small the amount, please know that your contribution will be more than a number on a fundraising page. It can become a meal for a hungry child, medicine for a sick little girl, warmth for a family facing winter, a step toward my medical treatment, and a little more hope for a family trying to hold on.

And if you cannot donate, please do not feel helpless. Sharing our story can also be an act of kindness. Your share may reach someone who can help us. From Palestine, and from the heart of a father who fears for his daughters more than he fears for himself, I reach out to you. Please help Azhar and Raneem see kinder days. Please help me have another chance to walk and live with dignity. Please become part of the story of a human being who refused to give up, despite everything life has placed in his path. Thank you to every heart that chooses compassion, every hand that reaches out to help, and every person who shares our story. Rami Hamad Al-Obaid 🇵🇸 Gaza – Palestine❤️