We have had two occasions in recent months to write an appeal for Ahmad Rizik. Two occasions in almost three years of a genocide.
On those occasions Ahmad didn’t reach out to us. We knew that it was very unlikely that he would. Ahmad tends to struggle on privately.
But we just KNEW he had to be struggling. We knew the very small payments he was getting from Gaza Great Minds Foundation and when you do the math and realise his responsibilities to his family's welfare, the math didn’t add up. Both those times we broached the subject with him only to find that he was actually in extremely difficult financial circumstances and on the verge of losing the apartment he was renting with his family.
Ahmad on Sky News
But before anything else is said, it matters that people understand who Ahmad is. Ahmad is the founder of Gaza Great Minds Foundation in— a project built from nothing but determination, love, and the belief that Gaza’s children deserve a future rooted in knowledge. This foundation has become one of the most extraordinary educational lifelines in Gaza. It has produced scholar after scholar. It has kept classrooms alive when everything around them was collapsing. It has fiercely protected its young students against the worst atrocities of the occupation. It has given hope to children and parents when no hope existed. And it has ensured that when this genocide ends, these young people will be able to step into their future seamlessly and take their rightful place in further education facilities.
That’s all Ahmad’s doing. His blood, sweat, and tears built this. His father — killed in this genocide — taught him that education was the highest form of resistance, and Ahmad has lived that truth every single day.
And for a community like ours — a Substack community built on knowledge, learning, information, and the belief that education matters — supporting someone like Ahmad is not charity. It’s reciprocity. It’s giving back to the people who give knowledge. It’s standing with the educators who have held the line so that children can keep learning even in the darkest conditions on earth. If we value knowledge, if we value scholarship, if we value the act of teaching, then we value Ahmad.
And now Ahmad needs us. How do we know that?
For the first time Ahmad reached out because his situation has become intolerable and he simply cannot manage without peoples help — so he turned to those he knew would understand. Let me put his own words here:
“Salam Alaykom my dear friends, I hope this message finds you well.
For two years, I've given everything I have to other people's children, building schools, keeping classrooms running, making sure Gaza's students still had someone showing up for them. I would do it all again. But I've never asked for anything for my own family until now, and that hasn't been easy to sit with.
We've been displaced more than once. We've lost people. And right now, the work I do for others doesn't cover what my own wife and children need, a roof, mainly, something steady in the middle of everything that isn't.
I'm not asking out of despair. I'm asking because after two years of carrying this for my community, I've learned that asking for help isn't a failure, it's what makes the rest of it possible. This is for my family”.
What this young man says is 100% accurate. He has given everything to other people’s children in Gaza. He has poured himself into building an educational lifeline that has held thousands of kids steady through the worst years of their lives. He has kept learning alive when nothing else around them was standing. He has carried an entire generation on his back, making sure they had books, teachers, classrooms, and a future to step into when their world finally stops burning. That’s all Ahmad’s doing. He has given everything he has to this project. Now we need to give back.
For every one of you who has admired Gaza Great Minds Foundation and what they have achieved, remember, this is all down to one man and his unending love for the children of Gaza and for the legacy of his father who was killed in this genocide and who valued education above all else. That’s what he taught Ahmad and that’s who Ahmad is.
And now, here is how you can help Ahmad:
1. Directly donate to his link. This is the most urgent and impactful way to support him and his family right now.
2. Subscribe to him — either as a free or paid subscriber. This helps him build stability and gives him a platform to continue the educational work he’s devoted his life to.
3. Share his story. Share this appeal, share his work, share his name. Lift him up. Let him know he is not carrying this alone.
We have to look after the protectors. Without them everything falls.
Please show Ahmad that you see him, you appreciate him and you value what he is doing for the children of Gaza and that you understand he cannot continue to do this alone.
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