Tasneem Al-Madhoun, 18, psychological counseling student in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine

Tasneem Al-Madhoun, 18, connected with me a short time ago from where she is currently displaced in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Tasneem fled to this location as her home in Jabalia al-Shamal suffered attacks under the continuing a genocide against the Palestinian people. 

In spite of these intolerable conditions, Tasneem’s dedication to her studies specializing in psychological counseling is striking. She told me this focus comes from a place of service to her fellow Palestinians, a dire need where those who have experienced violence on this scale “have psychological complexes and are afraid of what we are living through.” 

Before the current bombardments, Tasneem described her life as “beautiful, peaceful, and warm, but now the days are gnawing at our bones day after day.”

Tasneem told me her physical suffering peaked after a home beside hers was bombed, forcing her to flee. 

After escaping to a nearby hospital, Tasneem was shot within the structure, which caused “severe bleeding, but I recovered after a while with walking, treatment, and medication. I suffered a lot.”

Tasneem’s recovery has thankfully gone well, and has done nothing to shake her resolve to help other Palestinians through her studies. 

I am proud to know Tasneem at all, and contributing to her goals is an honor for me. 

If you are able to do the same through donations and/or sharing her story, her GoFundMe page is very much open here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/our-dreams-in-the-face-of-war?attribution_id=sl%3A586b821f-94ec-459f-8f85-d508934f47d4&lang=en_CA&ts=1772402061

As always my hope is that sharing her story can generate more support for her goals in service to other Palestinians, and to bring more attention and action for the Palestinian people as a whole.