“We live in a small house over the house of my grandparents in the city of Beit Sahour. I’ve always knew that my parents were going in financial difficulties but they never shared with us. I am 16 years old now and everything came to be clear. It all started back in 1992 when my father, John, was coming back home from work; he was interrupted and beaten by Israeli soldiers, it was the First Intifada. This incident caused my father huge damage in his brain cells, 6 bullets in his body and one in his heart. Since then, may father started developing health complications; heart surgery, pain and epilepsy.

I am the eldest daughter in my family. We are four kids. We all go to school and love to study but since March this year, we had to stay home. We did not have any electronic device in the house to follow up with online teaching as our classmates. I know that my parents’ financial situation is not very good; my dad has been unemployed since last summer because of his health issues. He had to put my two youngest brothers in a boarding school where church takes care of them.

In the future, I would love to be an architect. I want to help my dad build a house for us. It does not have to be a big house; just bigger than the current one of three rooms and a toilet. I want to build my mom a kitchen so she can cook for us Musakhan[1]. Also, I would love to have my own room and I want to buy a bicycle for my brothers.”

This quote was taken from a powerful conversation with John’s daughter Christina during this project’s team visit to their house. Not mentioned above is the huge burden her father carries due to financial hardship. Currently, John is the sole breadwinner of his big family where he is under stress to support his own parents, wife, and children. Unknown to Christina, John has acquired a big amount of debt despite working hard. She also does not know that her mother was admitted to a mental health facility four years ago for psychiatric illness after witnessing a traumatic experience as one of her sons fell from a second story height.

With hope and love, this story is told to the world so we can help this family through their difficult times. John is looking to take a leadership position and start his own small business in order to earn a sustainable income for his family. With your donations, our project team hopes to help John open a fruit cocktail ice-cream shop in his hometown of Beit Sahour. By minimizing the financial burden John carries, Christina’s dreams may become a reality.

Help us collect 17,000 USD to support Christina and her family.

"Because it's time to act BIG, FAZAA, for Humanity"

Note: The names of the characters in this story are not real; in order to avoid hurting families' feelings and to preserve privacy.

[1] National Palestinian dish,  composed of roasted chicken baked with onions, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts served over taboon bread