avie

Dear friends, kind hearts, and everyone who has stood with us,

When I first opened my heart to the world and shared our story, I never imagined the amount of love and solidarity we would receive. Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve now reached $12,837—a milestone that brings real light to some very dark days.

From the deepest corners of my heart, thank you.

💔 A Journey of Loss, but Also of Strength

As many of you know, I’ve lost 25 of my loved ones during this devastating war. That grief lives with me every single day. It’s in the silence that once held laughter, in the empty spaces where we once gathered as a family.

But through your help, I’ve also felt something else: hope. And that hope is priceless.

“21/Oct/2023 Before It Reached Us: The Day Our Neighbor’s House Was Destroyed” A quiet moment of fear, filmed just before everything changed.

“22/Oct/2023 The Morning After: Our Family Home in Ruins” This is what was left behind after the bombing of our home.

🌿 What Life Looks Like for Us Now

Despite everything, we’re still here. Still surviving. Still hoping.

But things have only gotten harder.

The war has returned, more brutal than before—and for over a month now, Gaza has been completely sealed off. No food is coming in. No medical supplies. No aid. No trade. No one is allowed to leave, and no one is allowed to enter.

We’re trapped.

🏚 We live with the fear of tomorrow, every single day. Airstrikes, drones, and the uncertainty of what might happen next. 👨‍👩‍👧 Our family is forever changed—we haven’t just lost people; we’ve lost pieces of ourselves. 📉 Basic needs go unmet—even clean water feels like a luxury now. Medicines, if they exist at all, are unreachable.

And yet…

Your support reminds us that we’re not forgotten. It reminds us that someone, somewhere, is still listening. That someone still cares. That we’re not completely alone in this.

Every message. Every share. Every dollar. It tells us: You’re walking this road with us. And that gives us the strength to keep going.

💖 What You Can Do

If you’ve already donated—thank you beyond words. If you can share our story again, it could reach someone who can help.

Even $5 means warmth, comfort, and a chance to breathe a little easier.

✨ Why It All Matters

This isn’t just about reaching a fundraising goal. It’s about surviving war with dignity. It’s about believing in tomorrow. It’s about making sure my daughter grows up knowing that the world did not look away.

Thank you for your kindness, patience, and belief in our humanity. You’ve helped me find my voice—and I will use it to keep hope alive.

🙏 From the Heart: A Quiet Apology

There’s something I need to say—something that’s been on my heart for some time.

When I first began sharing our story, I didn’t know what the right way was. I was scared, grieving, and trying to protect my family in any way I could. I reached out to many people, hoping someone, anyone, would see us. In that process, I now realize I may have overstepped, and I might have made some feel overwhelmed.

If that happened, I am truly sorry.

Please believe me when I say it was never out of disregard or pushiness. It came from a place of fear—fear of being forgotten, fear of not being able to keep my family safe, fear of watching everything I love slip away in silence.

I’m learning as I go. I’ve slowed down. I’m more mindful now, trying to share our journey in a way that feels respectful of the space and hearts of those listening.

If my words ever came at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, I hope you can understand where they came from—and I hope you can forgive me.

Thank you for seeing past my mistakes. Thank you for still being here. It means more than I can ever explain.

Vetted by @gazavetters ( #309 )

My name is Abdelmajed. I never imagined I’d be sharing my story like this, but life in Gaza has become unbearable. I am a survivor of the war here, and in the blink of an eye, everything I once knew—my home, my safety, my community—was ripped away from me.

The war has transformed Gaza into a graveyard of broken dreams. The buildings that once stood as symbols of life and resilience are now piles of rubble. Every corner is filled with the echoes of explosions. Every moment is shrouded in uncertainty. There is no security. There is no stability. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Basic needs have become luxuries. Food is scarce. Clean water is even scarcer. Hospitals are overwhelmed and under-resourced, and there is almost no medical care to be found. Every night, families go to bed hungry, praying they’ll wake up to see another day. The cost of basic necessities has skyrocketed, and it’s become a daily battle just to survive.

I’ve seen things I never thought possible—standing in long lines for a piece of bread, rationing every drop of water, and watching my people suffer in silence. I have lost everything—my home, my safety, my dignity.

Escape from Gaza is my only hope, but it’s almost impossible without financial help. The cost of evacuation is far beyond my means, and without support, I’m trapped in a warzone with no way out.

I’m reaching out to you now, in the hopes that someone, anyone, can help. I am not asking for luxury. I am asking for a chance—just a chance—to live. A chance to escape this never-ending cycle of fear, destruction, and loss. A chance to rebuild my life somewhere safe, where I can begin again, where I can find hope once more.

Any amount you can give will help me get closer to safety. Even the smallest donation will make a difference—it could be the lifeline I need to survive. If you are unable to donate, please share my story. The more people who hear it, the better the chance that I can find the support I desperately need.

Your kindness and support mean the world to me. You’re not just helping me escape a war; you’re giving me a chance to live, to rebuild, to breathe again.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring.

They are currently at $6,682/$90,000

My name is Saja. I’m a wife, a mother, and a woman who once believed her story would be simple. I thought my days would be filled with watching my daughter grow — from her first smile to her first steps — surrounded by the small joys of everyday life.

But life had other plans.

War has returned to our home. Again. And once again, we find ourselves living under skies that never seem to rest.

There was a moment — a fragile, breathless moment — when the bombs paused and the world seemed to remember us. It gave us hope. We thought maybe, just maybe, we could start to rebuild. But now, we are back in the dark — hiding, holding on, praying.

I’m writing this not as someone seeking pity, but as a mother who has no other choice but to speak.

Imagine holding your baby in the middle of the night, not because she cried, but because the world outside roared too loud for either of you to sleep. Imagine whispering bedtime stories not to lull her into dreams, but to keep the fear from settling into her tiny bones.

This is my life.

This is my daughter’s life.

And even now — especially now — I believe in softness. I believe in kindness. Because when everything else is taken from you, hope becomes the most valuable thing you have.

Why I’m Reaching Out Our home has been damaged. Our lives changed. But through it all, my daughter wakes up every morning with a smile. She reaches for me with trust, with love, with faith that I will keep her safe.

That’s why I keep going.

I’ve launched a campaign to ask for help — not because it’s easy, but because silence is no longer an option. I am asking for support not just for me, but for my baby, and for the quiet strength of so many mothers like me who are fighting, every single day, to hold their families together.

How You Can Help: 🤍 Help us restore parts of our home so we can live with dignity 🤍 Support women and mothers in Gaza with access to care and resources 🤍 Keep the light of hope alive for a generation born in the shadows of war

💛 If you can, please support our journey here:

If you can’t give, please consider sharing. Your voice might be the reason someone else hears ours.

From My Heart to Yours Maybe our lives are worlds apart. Maybe you’ve never lived through war. But if you’ve ever held a child and wished the world could be better for them — then you understand more than you know.

I don’t want my daughter to grow up thinking the world turned away.

Please, if you’ve read this far — thank you. Thank you for seeing us. Thank you for caring. We are still here. Still hoping. Still holding on to every kind act like it’s a lifeline.

please stop I need your support to stand with my family in this bad situation ‼️

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #523 )✅️

✅️Vetted by @90-ghost

We don't even know anymore. Khaled, my little one, has started pronouncing the word "bombing," and it terrifies me.

I'm Jehad a father of two kids and lost everything because of war here in Gaza. I am now trying to rebuild some of it. With your kidness everything comes true ❤️❤️

We need to raise total of $100,000. Every dollar you contribute will make a tangible difference in our lives.

Please do your best to save my family and students we are waiting for your support. ❤️🙏

I’m not here to beg or list every detail—because even an entire newspaper wouldn’t be enough. The images on TV screens and the stories you see online already tell you so much about what we endure. But no matter how much you see, you’ll never truly feel what we feel. And I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone.

We are victims of conflicts we never chose. We love life—deeply, desperately—as long as we’re allowed to live it. We don’t want war, we don’t want destruction. All we want is a future. A future for ourselves, for our children—a future like every other human being deserves.

Everything is expensive and I need support follow you guys 🙏🙏❤️❤

Every dollar you contribute will make a tangible difference in our lives. Your donations can ensure that this newborn baby has a chance at survival and that  can provide my children with the necessities they deserve.

How You Can Help

In this moment of despair, I reach out to you—not just as a stranger, but as a fellow human being. Our humanity connects us, and compassion knows no boundaries. Your kindness, no matter how small, can bring a glimmer of hope to our lives, shattered by war.

Our baby has been sick countless times, and every evacuation has only made things worse. We need help to survive, to heal, and to dream of a better tomorrow.

Even a Little Means Everything

We appreciate your help, even if it’s just a small donation or simply sharing our story. Every bit of support matters. Together, we can rebuild what’s been taken from us and find hope amidst the rubble.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

if you could help a black gay girl and her family get rooms and not sleep in the hotel parking lot, that be swell. we’re approaching almost a year of being homeless and i would love to have at least the illusion of stability

cashapp: $primap

paypal: https://www.paypal.me/primapuella

For example, I’m white and neurodivergent, and I was talking to a Black neurotypical friend about masking, and how I feel like I have to change the entire way I present myself in order to not be considered weird in public. She responded with “Oh, some of that sounds kind of like code-switching— how I have to switch away from using AAVE in white-dominated settings in order to be accepted.” And then we bonded over how frustrating and ridiculous it is that AAVE and stimming are both considered unacceptable in “professional” settings.

Another time, a straight Jewish friend was telling me about a book she had just finished reading, which was written by a Jewish author and had a Jewish main character. She was saying that it was really nice to read a book written by a Jewish author, because even when gentile authors do their research and write a pretty accurate Jewish character, they never quite feel Jewish— you can always tell the author was a gentile. And I said “Oh that sounds kind of like when I read queer characters written by straight authors— you can always tell the author was straight even if they do their research and get things fairly right. So even though I’m happy when any book features queer characters, it’s really especially nice to read queer characters written by queer authors.” And we bonded over this similar experience, and we were both excited that the other understood even if we were coming to this experience from different angles, and then we swapped book recommendations. This conversation is also a great example of when that internet attitude DOES apply— when someone outside of a particular group is trying to understand that group’s entire experience well enough to accurately write the world as seen through their eyes. They’re never quite going to get it right, and that’s ok! It just means it’s important to also have Own Voices authors writing those types of stories also.

they're killing wildlife for profit. who cares if they get shot out there? it's what they deserve.

Okay, so I don't want to go too deeply into this because this is just meant to be an animal media blog.

Poaching seems to conjure an image of a greedy villain, profiteering off of $90 000 per kilo of rhino horn*. Poaching is not *just* rhinos and leopards and tigers being killed - poaching is *any* illegal hunting or catching of animals or plants.

If your children are starving you aren't going to think 'oh but what about the poor animal it might go extinct', you're going to go and kill that giant sable antelope because it contains enough meat to feed your entire family for weeks. You will kill that rhino for $5 000 per kilo of horn* in order to send your kids to school so they at least have a chance of a better life than you. If you're living in a rural village and the nearest clinic is *several hours away*, for which there is only ONE doctor who tends to the ENTIRE AREA and the waiting line is SEVERAL DAYS LONG so you go to the local witch doctor who tells you that they can cure your dying spouse with crushed pangolin scales you will kill that pangolin. If your community relies on mealies for food but the elephants keep on trampling them, you and your village are going to do whatever you need to to drive off those elephants - even kill them.

If you can't find it in yourself to have sympathy for people in difficult situations with few options, then what about the people caught in the crossfire? What of that seven year old child the article mentioned, shot in the leg because they wandered too close? What of that disabled man shot dead because he didn't know he was in a restricted area? What of people who's communities are forcefully relocated several times over?

Sure, there are people who involved in poaching only because they are rich and greedy but those are not the people shoot to kill will affect (and even then, death penalty is inefficient in that it will cost more than a life imprisonment.) Shoot to kill also affects ability to find other poachers — if you shot five poachers, you've just shot five poachers. Arrest five poachers and you might uncover information on ten more — and perhaps even get enough information to dismantle an entire operation.

If the reason many people kill animals are because they are starving then the solution is simple: give them food. Give them housing. Give them clean water and education. Give them jobs.

You'll notice how the articles mention that shoot to kill doesn't reduce poaching. You know what does? Ecotourism.

'During the five years that the project was externally funded the community experienced a significant improvement in their standard of living. During each year of the project, more than 2,000 Japanese tourists visited the community generating sufficient income for the families involved to enable them to meet their monthly cost of food, and when operating at capacity the project employed a significant number of community members as drivers, cooks, gardeners, housekeepers, and in a few instances in managerial roles such as temporary wildlife rangers managing the forest around the villages.

Correspondingly, there was a decline in poaching. The community generally understood animals were a major tourism drawcard and needed to be protected to continue attracting tourists. This view was common throughout the kampongs (villages)... Noting that some members of the community continued to play an active role in many wildlife and forest conservation programs within the adjacent reserve ' (unfortunately this project did fail because the funding for professional managers was withdrawn and the people of the village were not taught adequately how to manage everything by themselves, which lead to a steep decline in visitors and thus they had to go back to poaching to survive.)

Ecotourism is wonderful and is a great help towards both people and animals.

Obviously, these are complex issues that need way more investigation and perspectives than I have the time for or can offer but I’m going to close it here; you can read the articles and hopefully they can give more information and a broader starting point to this issue.

This is all I'm going to be saying on this to anons. If anyone wants to discuss this further, you are welcome to message me, leave a comment in the notes or send an ask off anon. Anon hate will be blocked.