My journey to help others as well as myself

I've started this blog for two reasons.

One is to explain this new journey I'm embarking on to try and help people, specifically the Palestinian people and to be more specific, the people of Gaza. Since the attack on Gaza in 2008/2009 I was awaken to this tradegy that has been put onto these people for way too long. I was ignorant that this problem was even occurring. So I decided during new years eve that I wanted to do something to help these people, even if it was something small such as telling everyone I knew about their story.

So in 2009 one of my good friends gave me a leaflet describing an NGO named COMPLETE, a coalition of over 50 NGOs that joined together to create awareness and to help the Palestinian cause. Now named Viva Palestinian Malaysia, I had been working for VPM since. Although its been a part-time job due to also being a full-time masters student in political science its been one the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life and I love it. Besides learning things I never thought I would ever do, VPM has taken me to Lebanon not once but twice where I had the privilege of meeting Palestinian refugees who were not only forced into these camps with no where else to go but have had 3 or 4 generations of their family born and raised in these camps. There are no words to describe these camps and the living situations are so dire and have been living there for far too long. What touched me though was when walking through the camps the children would walk besides you with big smiles on their faces wanting you to take photos of them and the grand-mothers stopped you just to shake your hand and say thank you. Just someone from the outside community who wanted to know their story was enough to keep this spirit of wanting to fight on going.

My trips to Lebanon are unforgettable but this will be said in another posting one day :) Right now I have another area I want to focus on.

During the attack on Gaza I saw on live news what was going on, it tore me up inside that I couldn't do anything. So when I joined VPM I felt it was a small contribution in helping to re-build the lives of these people. Thus far, VPM has raised money for several projects in Gaza to help to create jobs for the people, which includes building a rehabilitation centre for women. We have also just raised money in order to build the much needed 11 schools in Gaza as well as sending medical and humanitarian aid during the convoy in 2010.

I am now working on embarking on a new phase of my journey to help not only one of my wishes come true but it also ties into the final stage of my masters programme.

There is going to be another land convoy leaving for Gaza from London in mid-April and we hope to raise enough money to purchase a specific vehicle the Gazan people have asked for such as a mini-bus plus fill it up with aid such as educational items needed for the schools that will be built soon. The reason I am asking you all for help is because I want to be the one who delivers it. I feel my time to go has come. I want to go and see exactly what is going on with my own eyes so I can educate the people not just with facts I read but by what I've seen with my own eyes. I want to finally meet the people I've spoken to online and tell them face-to-face I did not forget them. After all the work I've done at VPM, I want to see just how I've helped, as small as it is.

So I'm asking anyone who can make a donation of any amount to please contact me. To purchase one vehicle full of aid will roughly cost RM50,000. Even if this amount is not met, whatever is raised I will still be able to give the donations to the Gazans and carry on with my thesis as best as I can. It would just be an honour if I could raise enough for 1 vehicle so I could drive into Gaza knowing it was due to the love and support from all of you that made one of my dreams come true. I know times are hard so even your prayers and thoughts during the journey would be just as wonderful for me :)

For my studies, my final thesis is based on the convoys to Gaza and my supervisor has stated that if I am able to go, it will provide better results due to being able to have the first hand experience of going on the convoy. Therefore this is not just one of my dreams being fulfilled but will also help me tremendously in hopefully publishing my thesis.

For anyone who can help, here are the details:-

Name: Jemaimah Mustapha

Bank: Standard Chartered Bank

Account number: 312-1-5704123-7

Since this is already a long post for a 1st post my second reason will be explained soon, after some much needed rest :)

Thanks to anyone who reads this.

Luv Jems :)