Maldives student sets example to save Palestinian friend

Many people are watching Israel's merciless genocide unfold across Palestine on social media. Almost everybody has given up on any hope of relief to the people of the Gaza strip, uncertain of any reprieve or ceasefire anytime soon, or even the humanitarian conditions to improve.

Then there is this Maldivian student, studying in Egypt, who has proven that the aid sent from Maldives reaches its rightful owners. She is a beacon of generosity, love, and sympathy among the Maldivian people, who pray constantly for the Muslims in Gaza. Beyond that, Maldivian student Maryam Barsha is setting a beautiful example of friendship.

Studying in Egypt for the past two years, one of Barsha's closest friends is Palestinian Nadha Mahmoodh Abdullah. According to Bashra, their relationship had strengthened since there was no other Maldivian student studying microbiology with her at Azhar University. The two students were the only foreigners in the class. Then Nadha, who went to Gaza, saying she would return soon, was trapped on October 7 when the Hamas-Israel war broke out.

Nadha lives in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza. Not long after, Israeli attaclks started landing on the city. While Israel kept on bombing residential buildings, hospitals and mosques, Barsha was extremely worried for her friend. She had to wait several weeks before she could hear back from Nadha to the smallest message, because internal communication services kept getting cut off in Gaza.

"We were barely able to find out if she was alive. And every time we communicated, she told us about her situation, and in tears," Barsha, 22, said.

"She was very scared. She kept saying that she might not live through it”.

Barsha didn't know how to keep her friend safe. Still, she had been actively collecting aid for Palestinians from Maldivians and was sending aid to Gaza from day one. Barsha led other Maldivian students at Azhar University and bought aid supplies and sent them to Gaza, but she did not know whether anything reached her friend or not.

Nadha first texted Barsha fearing for her life in February. She had left Khan Yunis and moved to Rafah. Thousands of people were forced out of their homes by Israel, and later bombed. The house where Nadha lived and grew up was also turned to ashes.

In great distress, Nadha, who was living in a tent, asked her friend to help her get out of there and go to Egypt. However, Palestinians can only cross the border into Egypt, after paying a large sum of money to a travel agency that facilitates it. Nadha and her mother have to pay USD 1,000 per person to enter Egypt.

"I had money sent by the Maldivian people as aid to Gaza. But since Nadha is my personal friend, I didn't dare touch it. I couldn't ask for public help either," Barsha, 22, said.

"Then we Maldivian students here decided to raise USD 2,000."

With the dollar rate so high in Egypt, it wasn’t easy to raise that much money in local currency. While Barsha was struggling to collect the amount, Egypt had raised the entry fee for Palestinians from USD 1,000 to USD 5,000 per person. Nadha and her mother needed USD 10,000 to get out of the battlefield.

At this point, Barsha decided to seek help from her own family as well as the general public in Maldives.

Barsha then launched the fundraising campaign 'Save A Life', but in the meantime, she had not heard from Nadha at all. She didn't even know if Nadha was alive anymore. Her heart was trembling with fear.

"Then two days later, Nadha called and said she was in Egypt. I can't tell you how happy I was at that moment," Barsha said.

Nadha was able to enter Egypt by paying USD 1,000 under a student concession before Barsha and the Maldivian students could collect the required amount. Nadha's mother was stuck in Rafah because she didn't have the money required to enter Egypt.

With the help of Maldivians, Barsha raised the USD 5,000 for Nadha’s mother. She herself went to Nadha with the money. Nadha wept with gratitude at the generosity of the Maldivian people.

Although Nadha's mother was paid for, it takes 30 days to cross the border into Egypt. According to Nadha, Israel is preparing to bombard Rafah during Eid. So they are praying that Nadha's mother will get out safely.

Nadha entered Egypt safely, and in celebration Barsha and her other friends organised an Iftar for her on Tuesday. Heartbreakingly, on the same day, news came that Nadha’s grandfather had been martyred in the attacks on Rafah. For the past nine months, Nadha had lived with her grandfather, so the news caused her a lot of distress.

"Nadha has been saved. Hopefully we can save her mother too. I would like to thank all the people who helped us, in this opportunity," Barsha said.

"I would like to say that we have indeed saved a life today."

Gaza, which Israel was destroying, was bordered by Egypt. It is not far from the place where many people are being bombed and killed. Therefore, the Maldivians living in Egypt, next door to Palestine, understood the gravity of their situation well.

"We believed that something had to be done. While Palestine is so close, it is a responsibility to help them," Barsha said.

When the war started, Barsha and her friends first sent sanitary napkins (menstrual pads) to Gaza. At their own expense, they went to stores and bought pads to send them into Palestine through trusted organisations.

To increase the aid, Maldivian students living in Egypt started raising money. First, from their own pockets, and then their families were included. The opportunity to provide assistance was later opened to the public.

Barsha said more than MVR 100,000 was donated within three days of asking for public assistance. Then it became difficult to withdraw so much money at once, so they temporarily closed the fund and started buying and preparing aid items. In addition to pads, items such as flour, sugar, rice and water were bought and stored, and the aid organisation TFG sends a truck to collect and deliver them. It is one of the few trusted organisations that can enter Palestine with aid.

The opportunity to donate was opened to the public again, and money was sent incessantly. Over the past six months, Maldivians have donated MVR 500,000 tin relief aid and Barsha and her team have sent nine rounds of aid to Gaza.

Few vehicles can enter Gaza carrying aid now. Previously, 500 vehicles could enter the area daily, but now the number has been reduced to 40. The TFG, which provides relief aid, is now delivering it by air. Therefore, Brasha is assured now that the assistance provided by Maldivians will not be lost.

Barsha assured that the help sent to the Palestinian people from their brothers and sisters in Maldives is delivered faithfully and with love.