How I've Adopted 3 Orphans Inside Gaza
And you can too. Save children from starvation, by the permission of Allah
To no one’s surprise, Gaza is now believed to have the largest population of orphans in modern history. Official numbers indicate that dozens of Gazans have so far been murdered by the barbaric occupiers via slow, painful deaths by starvation — including the little bodies of children — but only Allah knows how many have silently starved to death inside their houses, uncounted by humans.
I’ve even heard from a charity aid organizer that half of the remaining children in Gaza are now orphans (Allah knows about the accuracy of this estimate, but again, not surprising if it is on point). They are our children, not those children. The parents of these precious orphan children may no longer be in this dunya, but we are still in this dunya. And we won’t sit by idly, not when Allah wants us to act. To do what we can.
We have money. And they are starving to death, facing astronomical prices for a small, choked trickle of food supplies. Israeli traders war-profiteer from this “market” of the open-air prison of people being slowly and painfully starved to death. And our brothers and sisters are held hostage, en masse. Malnutrition and dehydration. Hour by hour. They’re fading. How many, many of our children have already been slowly, painfully killed by starvation?
Bulk aid trucks by larger charities are blocked, with the borders closed. But small-scale mutual aid charities operating with Gazan volunteers on the ground — they're able to still operate — albeit on a much much smaller scale, but still. What many charities may often do is to buy goods at the prices available / at ridiculous war-profiteering prices, and then may process or cook bulk food and divide it into packages to distribute them to people for free. While bulk truck aids are blocked from entering, small-scale charities operating with Gazan volunteers on the ground still do manage to operate.
Olive You (formerly known as Egyptians For Palestinians) is charity effort co-founded by Hafsah, an initiative that I have been involved with and supporting since nearly the start of this escalated genocide. They’ve been providing much-needed support (food, medical, rent, etc) to Gazan refugees who did manage to cross over via Rafah into Egypt, but now need almost every form of support. They’re also expanding their work inside Gaza, with the horrifically desperate situation there. See their life-saving, amazing work here on their Instagram.
Here’s one recent post, for example:
When I went to Cairo myself in September 2024 (lol spoiler alert for my article series, My Life as an Ansari), I met Hafsah in person and was involved in some of the charity work of Olive You. And I fully endorse them, having been involved with them and being a part of some of their charity efforts myself.
Olive You has been helping Gazan refugees inside Cairo in various ways, Alhamdulillah. Through their initiative to match up Gazans in need with helpers from around the world, I was co-sponsoring these eight cousin orphans, whom I met in Cairo:
Weeks ago, Olive You was able to pass on supporting the eighteen or so orphans they were helping in Cairo, to another charity there. And now, Olive You is working to do the same with some of the huge number of orphans starving inside Gaza right now: working to match up these orphans with sponsors from around the world.
So I filled out their Google Form to sign up for orphan sponsorship (link here). And I was recently matched up / paired with three beautiful orphan children inside Gaza — their father was martyred, and their mother is alive. The children are siblings, around the age of 10 +/- years old, one boy and two girls. Hafsah shared with me videos as proof: a video of the three lovely children. And she also shared a video of the young boy thanking me by name.
To be honest with you, I might have felt a bit squeamish at the sight of the boy being put on video and thanking me by name, but I realize that they shared this for giving their donors more reassurance that their donations are reaching the intended people. As an additional part of due diligence, they also shared with me this martyrdom certificate (basically like a death certificate) from the local authorities, of the father being martyred during this escalated genocide.
Alhamdulillah, I’ve been sharing monthly contributions for these children. I send the money to online to Hafsah, who had been using a network of Gazan volunteers on the ground to get it to the children and their mother.
And you can do this, too. We can’t look away from these orphans; in today’s digitally connected world, these orphans are starving right at our doorstep. We can’t pretend that they’re someone else’s responsibility. Look, it doesn’t necessarily have to be with Olive You. There are many other small-scale charities, including such mutual aid ones (i.e. working with Gazan volunteers on the ground); another example is the amazing Relief4Palestine, whom I have also been supporting for a very long time (even though I’m not as involved with them as I am with Olive You). See the amazing work of Relief4Palestine here on their Instagram. And there are others, too. The important thing is that we actually put in the effort and do our homework, not hiding behind an excuse of “how would I know who is reliable” while our children are killed by starvation. That we act now.
So from personal experience, I recommend Olive You. I might be a bit biased towards them since I’ve been working with Hafsah and her team for a long time, and I’ve met some of them. When I wanted to consider directly connecting with the guardian of the orphans, I was provided with guidance on the matter. Their sincerity and honesty are really visible, and you feel it from them. May Allah bless the wonderful team of Olive You, and all of the orphans, our brothers and sisters in Gaza, as well as everyone struggling in Allah’s path to honor and help them.
So take the leap, like I did. Follow the sunnah and form a Muhajir-Ansari bond. Fill out Olive You’s Google Form to sign up for orphan sponsorship (link here). It’s a wonderful experience. Invest in your akhirah (afterlife) now.
The rewards from Allah for taking care of orphans are immense. This one hadith is more than enough incentive:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in Paradise like this," indicating with his index and middle fingers. [Bukhari: 6005]
Wallahi, I started to cry just now while writing this, while looking up this hadith above as a reference. I want to be in Jannah with the beloved of my life, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. I need to be with him. May Allah bless him and give him peace.
Please, I implore you: act now — during every single hour that passes, our children are in pain and being starved: Google Form link to sign up for orphan sponsorship
“Who is it that will lend to Allah a good loan which Allah will multiply ˹many times over˺ for them, and they will have an honorable reward?” [Surah Hadid, Ayah 11]
Thank you so much for sharing! Allah bless you!