Hello, my name is Nadin. I’m from Gaza. I’m a graphic design graduate, a wife—and now, a mother.

I finished my design studies just before the war began. I had dreams of starting a small studio, of creating art that told stories. I used to think about colors and fonts and the future.

Then, the war came. And the future became something we tried to hold onto, moment by moment.

On October 22, 2023, I learned I was pregnant when a missile destroyed my husband’s family home, killing 25 members—his mother, siblings, nieces and nephews—entire branches of our family in seconds.

We were displaced twice. Everything was gone—home, safety, routine, rest.

A few weeks later, I gave birth to our daughter. There was no crib, no celebration—not even stillness. But she arrived, quietly and beautifully. In her eyes I saw something I hadn’t felt in weeks: life that still wanted to grow.

Now, our days are shaped by decisions that could dismantle the future we are trying to build together.

Today, Israel’s government is discussing plans for a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City and southern regions. The stated aim: to eliminate Hamas and later hand governing control to allied Arab forces—not Israel—but with no clear path to peace or normalcy.

The humanitarian fallout is devastating. More than 61,000 Palestinians have died in this war; hunger and malnutrition are rising sharply. Hospitals in north Gaza have shut down, and 193 people have now died of starvation, nearly half of them children.

Aid remains blocked, water is scarce, and many risk dying of hunger or disease long before future promises arrive.

We Don’t Know What Comes Next There’s no clear path forward—only uncertainty for our daughter’s life and our ability to survive another day.

How You Can Help I’m asking for support—not for comfort, but for survival:

Help us meet basic needs so we can breathe, heal, and preserve a world for our daughter.

Support us as I try to stand again on my own feet—even a glimmer of stability matters.

scully whose compulsions are mental and unseen, or “practical” (until they’re not). who has to lock and re-lock and re-lock her doors and windows every night upon returning home, doing it enough times until it feels “safe”. who washes her hands until they after being diagnosed with cancer, becoming fixated on cleanliness and healthiness and how she can’t let herself get “more” sick.

scully who struggles with moral scrupulosity. who walks her faith like a knife edge between something comforting and something that causes her immense pain. who turns prayer and confession into compulsion. scully who has highly distressing and graphic intrusive thoughts, sometimes while doing autopsies, sometimes while on cases, sometimes just sitting in the office.

Hans Thoma (Germany, 1839-1924)

Zeichnung zur Fibel: Frosch, c.1905

Pen & black ink over pencil, washed, on laid paper, mounted on cardboard

110 x 146 mm