Palestinian Family Project
Helps struggling Gazan families by providing them with direct financial support and by liaising with agencies like the WHO to facilitate medical evacuations.
UPDATE: Because of practical difficulties in sending financial support directly to families in a conflict zone, I have ended this project. Instead, I’m supporting a registered charity in the UK called Children Not Numbers (https://childrennotnumbers.org).
This group, which has received recognition from King Charles, provides medical treatment to children through its network of international doctors and caregivers.
I’m happy to report that Jana Ayad, the sick girl whose case drew worldwide attention, has substantially recovered after receiving help from the WHO and doctors at an American-run field hospital in Rafah. Her family’s situation has stabilized.
David Allan
Message from the Founder
My name is David Allan. I’m a Canadian engineer and businessperson in the manufacturing industry . Like everyone around the world, for months I saw a stream of images of suffering children in Gaza. And like most of us, I wasn’t doing anything to help. Then came June 25th, when I opened the New York Times and saw this article.
The article pictured a malnourished Palestinian girl lying on a hospital bed, in a repose that reminded me of my own daughter.
After seeing this little girl’s photo, I found I couldn’t look away. I had to do something. But what? Who, I wondered, was the girl? Could I find out? And if so, could I help her family? The article didn’t identify the girl, but it did credit the photographer, Mohammed Salem from Reuters.
When I searched online for Mohammed Salem, I quickly discovered that he’s a renowned photojournalist who won the 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award for his work in Gaza. I located Mohammed on LinkedIn, where he had posted more photos of the girl.
I wrote to Mohammed, and he replied right away. I discovered he’s no ordinary war correspondent whose subjects remain anonymous to him. Mohammed meticulously records the identities and contact details of the people he photographs. The girl’s name, he told me, is Jana Ayad. Her mother’s name is Nesma.
Mohammed gave me Nesma’s phone number, and using translation software, I painstakingly composed a text message to Nesma in Arabic explaining that I wanted to send funds to help her daughter. I worried she wouldn’t reply, that she’d dismiss my message as unserious. Mohammed agreed to call her to convey my sincerity.
The second problem was how to send funds to a person in Gaza, where the financial system has broken down. With Mohammed’s help, we worked out a way of transferring payments through the Bank of Palestine to a relative of Nesma’s in the West Bank.
I’m thankful to Mohammed for connecting me to Nesma, and to Nesma for accepting my help. When Nesma sent me this photo she took from her daughter’s bedside, she allowed me into her family’s life.