The 7th of October 2023 is a date that most people who follow the news will recognise. It is the date that changed everything – for Gaza, for the region, and for the entire world’s understanding of what was happening there.

For Noha Muhammad Khaled Al-Amsi, it is the date her father was martyred.

Noha was 4 years old on that day. She is 6 now. She has spent more than a year – the most formative year of her young life – growing up in the aftermath of that single day.

Her sister Maryam was 2 years old when their father was martyred. Maryam is 5 now. She may have no memory of him at all. That is a grief that belongs to a different category – the grief of a loss you cannot even recall losing.

Their mother, Aya Abdel Nasser Ahmed Awad, has raised these two girls alone through everything that has followed the 7th of October. The bombardment. The displacement. The collapse of basic infrastructure. The food shortages. The cold. The uncertainty of every single day.

She has done it with two small children beside her who look to her for answers she cannot always give.

A family that has already survived the unthinkable

We want to be careful not to reduce Noha, Maryam, and their mother Aya to a story of suffering alone. They are a family. They are alive. Aya is strong. The girls are growing up despite everything around them.

But they are growing up without their father. And they are doing so in conditions that no family in the world should have to endure.

Gaza’s healthcare system has been severely damaged throughout the conflict. Food access remains unpredictable and insufficient for large parts of the population. Educational provision for children has been massively disrupted. The basic structures that families rely on – the things we take entirely for granted in the UK – have been stripped away.

Noha is 6. She should be starting school. She should be learning to read, making friends, coming home to tell her parents about her day. The reality of her life is something very different.

Maryam is 5. She is at the age where children begin to understand the world around them – where it is safe, where it is not, who is there and who is not. She has grown up understanding, at some level, that her father is gone. That is a weight no 5-year-old should carry.

What sponsoring Noha or Maryam provides

Aid For Mankind’s orphan sponsorship programme provides each sponsored child with a monthly package of support worth £60 – just £2 a day. This covers:

Food provision so the child is not going without in a region where hunger is a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of families.

Clothing to meet the child’s basic needs through changing seasons and growing bodies.

Healthcare access including medical support, hygiene supplies and basic health monitoring.

Educational support to ensure these children do not lose their chance at an education on top of everything else they have lost.

100% of every pound you donate goes directly to the child. Aid For Mankind operates a strict 100% donation policy – our running costs are covered through separate fundraising so that nothing is ever deducted from what donors give. We are a UK registered charity (No. 1202015) and fully accountable to the Charity Commission.

Two sisters. Two sponsorships. One family.

Noha and Maryam are registered individually on our orphan sponsorship programme. Each needs her own dedicated sponsor – one person who commits to supporting her specifically each month.

If you sponsor Noha, your contribution goes to Noha. If you sponsor Maryam, your contribution goes to Maryam. Together, two sponsors give Aya the knowledge that both her daughters have someone standing behind them – someone who has looked at her family specifically and said: I choose you.

In a situation where so much has been taken from this family, that choice matters more than we can properly express.

Orphan sponsorship as Zakat, Sadaqah and Sadaqah Jariyah

Sponsoring an orphan is one of the most highly regarded forms of giving in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, described the sponsor of an orphan as being close to him in the next life – a promise that has motivated Muslims to care for orphaned children throughout Islamic history.

Orphan sponsorship through Aid For Mankind is eligible for both Zakat and Sadaqah. It also qualifies as Sadaqah Jariyah – ongoing charity whose reward continues for as long as the child benefits from the support. Every month your sponsorship continues, every meal it provides, every school session it makes possible, is a continuation of that reward.

UK taxpayers can increase the value of their donation by 25% at no extra cost through Gift Aid. Simply tick the Gift Aid box when completing your sponsorship and Aid For Mankind will reclaim the additional amount directly from HMRC.

How to sponsor Noha or Maryam today

Use the sponsorship form on this page to choose Noha, Maryam, or both. Select your sponsorship period and complete your donation securely. You will receive confirmation from Aid For Mankind and we will share updates on the girls’ welfare as we receive them from our ground team.

For any questions about the orphan sponsorship programme, contact us at info@aidformankind.com or call 07946 521 158.

Noha is 6. Maryam is 5. Their mother Aya has kept them alive through more than a year of unimaginable difficulty.

Now it is our turn.

Aid For Mankind – UK Registered Charity No. 1202015 Delivering food, medical aid and orphan support in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon and Pakistan.