Help my family survive this winter in Gaza

My name is Mohammed Z. Al-Shanti. I am an agricultural engineer, a husband, and a father of two. We live in northern Gaza. I am asking for help to pay our rent, buy clean water, and keep our children warm and fed this winter.

We need about $1,820 a month to stay alive here. We earn nothing. There is no work for me to do.

MY FAMILY

I have a wife, a son named Ibrahim who is six, and a baby daughter who was born during this war. She has never known a single day of peace.

We were displaced six times. We lived in a tent in the south. When the ceasefire came we went back north to our home and found it gone. The whole neighbourhood was rubble.

Now we rent a damaged two room apartment near where our house used to stand. It costs $500 a month. The windows are broken and there is no proper water connection. It is still better than the tent.

WHAT LIFE COSTS HERE

There is no water in the pipes. A truck comes, fills our containers, and we pay the driver at the door. A thousand litres costs $85. We need about five of those a month, so water alone is around $420.

A full cooking gas cylinder costs close to $600, which is more than our rent. Almost nobody buys one. My wife cooks on firewood, and on the bad days people burn plastic because there is nothing else. The smoke gets into the children's chests.

This is our month, from our own receipts:

Rent, damaged two room apartment $500

Food staples $420

Trucked water $420

Cooking fuel, mostly firewood $210

Formula and diapers for the baby $110

Internet and phone $100

Medicine and first aid $60

Total $1,820

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES

Rent first, so we keep the roof.

Water next, because the children drink it and the baby's water has to be boiled.

Then food, cooking fuel, formula and medicine.

Winter bedding, blankets and plastic sheeting for the windows, about $1,000 before the rain starts.

If we raise more than we need to survive, I want to send Ibrahim to kindergarten. He has already lost a year. There are no free kindergartens left here and we cannot pay the fees on our own.

HOW THE MONEY REACHES US

I live in northern Gaza, not in the United States. Banking here does not work, so this fundraiser is registered through my company in the United States, Outline Technologies LLC, and I bring the money into Gaza through the exchange offices that are still open. It usually takes about 48 hours. Nothing is taken out on my end.

I am telling you this now so nothing on your receipt surprises you later.

YOU CAN CHECK WHO I AM

I have been doing this openly since 2023. My identity documents, my engineering registration, and photographs of my family are on our website at donatetogaza.org. Ask me for my ID and I will send it to you privately.

I publish what we buy. I write updates about what happened that week, the good and the bad. Dozens of people have already supported us and I have kept every one of them informed.

If you have any doubt, write to me first and ask. I would rather answer your questions than take money from someone who is unsure.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Give what you can. $85 is a truck of water at our door. $100 is a week of water for four people. $210 is two weeks of food. $500 is the rent.

If you cannot give, please share this page. Someone in your circle may be able to.

And if you can give a small amount every month, that is worth more to us than anything else. It lets me plan instead of waiting.

Thank you for reading all of this. From my wife, from Ibrahim, from our daughter, and from me. God bless you.

Mohammed