— Joy Harjo, In Mad Love and War; “Bird”

“It's the same rain you loved, that drowned you.”

— James Baldwin, from If Beale Street Could Talk

rainer maria rilke, the book of hours

Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015).

Dear all..

My name is Eman and I am asking for your help to provide the basic necessities of life for my family.

Our household consists of my four wonderful children, my husband, my ailing father and father-in-law.

when we were happy

We lived a relatively stable life in Gaza prior to October 7 th, 2023. Since then, we have been displaced multiple times. We left our home, our belongings, our life and dreams. We finally ended up in a tent after moving in multiple unsafe homes. My children as a result, are suffering from malnutrition, inability to sleep and fear of bombing and explosions all around us.

We are in a continuous state of unrest and it's taking a toll on us physically, mentally and emotionally.

We are in dire need of help to hopefully move out to safety and provide for our family. My father needs a surgical intervention to remove gangrene from his foot and my father-in-law is suffering from severe depression after the death of my mother-in-law. My youngest is anxious and cries all the time. Our world is collapsing and I can’t figure out a way out of our situation. This war has changed our life to living a constant nightmare.

We no longer have the minimum necessities of life

No homes, no water, no electricity, nothing left.

Then the office where my husband worked was destroyed. My husband works as a computer engineer. The entire tower, which included many companies and private clinics, was bombed.

We lost many friends, including my husband’s mother, who died in the war as a result of extreme fear and gangrene in the intestines due to malnutrition. My children are still grieving for their dear grandmother, and now we live in a tent that lacks the lowest standards of living.

Our suffering has been continuing for about seven months, in light of the cold, rain, and lack of winter clothes.

Mostafa crying because of the sound of bombs and explosions.

To communicate directly with me you can follow my account on tik tok eman.salem66

And now, after losing hope in life in Gaza and losing all the basics necessary for a single individual’s life, and fearing for the future of my children, as each one has a dream that he aspires to reach, especially since my eldest son is supposed to start his university life and start shaping his future..

I ask you, hoping that my request will not be rejected, that you help me build our lives and save what is left of us, that we try to create a future for our children after what was destroyed, and that we try to fulfill their small dreams that have become impossible in their view after they saw the destruction of our home and schools, that each one of them complete his studies in school and then move on. To the university, and for each of them to become what he desires, build his future, achieve his dreams, and benefit himself, his family, his community, and his country.

Thank you to everyone who read, shared, and supported.

Vetted By:

@90-ghost

@euponia-scribis

Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus, originally published: 1977