In a makeshift tent in Gaza, Sherine Samir Mohamed Hamash is raising her five children with her husband. Each day begins not with routine, but with survival: gathering firewood for breakfast, queuing for water, fighting off the endless sand that seeps into their shelter. Once, her dreams for her children were filled with schools, studies, and futures as doctors or homemakers. Now, her hopes are reduced to something far more urgent—safety, food, and the chance for her children to simply be children.
Sherine has shared her story here in the hope of finding support. You can help her family directly through her fundraiser. 
Can you describe what daily life is like for you and your children?
We wake up in the morning to begin the suffering. My son Majed goes to look for firewood and some leaves to light a fire to prepare breakfast. I knead the bread daily so that it does not spoil. Because of the high price of flour, we buy enough for us daily. My daughters Rahaf and Roy arrange the tent and try to clean it of the sand. Of course, the cleaning process continues throughout the day because it quickly fills with sand again. Yousef and Rital go to stand in line for fresh water, then salty water, and so on.
What were your hopes and dreams for your children and have those dreams changed since?
Before the war, I wished for children to learn and complete their schools and studies. I wished that Majed would become a doctor, and I preferred to teach my girls at home because they are delicate and cannot bear to see blood and wounds. But now all standards have changed. Schools have been closed, and the shelters and water queues have become their only places. Now all we want is to try to survive.
What does a “safe home” mean to you after everything you’ve been through?
A safe home for me is where I find safety for my children, to sleep without fear that I might wake up to find that we have been targeted or that I have lost one of my family members. This is the foundation for me and there is much more, of course: cleanliness, comfort, privacy, taking care of myself, my husband, my children, and much more.
What is something your children desperately need right now that you haven’t been able to give them and how can people help?
My children have actually lost everything, even shelter, a clean and good tent that I was unable to provide, clothes and even shoes, good and clean food. They need to live what they should live and feel at their age. They did not live their childhood. They endured what they should not endure and saw what they should not see.
What gives you strength to keep going each day?
I find strength in the eyes of my children. They are the ones who give me strength. I do all this for them, and despite that, I often lose hope and passion. My hopes and morale often decline.
