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a-shade-of-blue · 2 months

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Masterlist of Fundraisers from the Palestinians who directly contacted me (2-5 August)

5 August

Ahmed Alhabil (@ahmedkhabil): Ahmed is a physiotherapist who has been displaced along with his wife, two children and his father and mother for more than 20 times. His father was injured and his pelvis broken as result of a bombing, because he is diabetic, there’s a risk that his right foot has to be amputated. He has not had a single medical operation. His eldest child Joan suffers from esophageal reflux. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/0cd3073c) (listed as #163 on the Vetted Fundraiser spreadsheet vetted by nabulsi and el-shab-hussein, and #79 on the Butterfly Effect Project.) (5 Aug: LOW FUNDS! only £652 raised of £81,000 goal)

Dr. Manar (@abood-family-gaza) Manar is a father of six children (Abdelrazq (21), Aya (19), Sama (17), Nada (12 ), Mostafa (10), Mahmode (3)). They are trying to evacuate out og Gaza. (https://gofund.me/84d48aff) (shared by 90-ghost) (LOW FUNDS: Currently $115 USD raised of $20,000 goal.)

Tahseen Alkhazendar (@tahseenkhazen): Tasheen has 3 children. His oldest son Ibrahim suffers from Celiac disease and needs a special food which is not available. In fact, Tahseen struggles to provide a single mean a day. (https://gofund.me/ac834bda) (vetted by association (Ola, whose campaign is listed as #205 on the verified fundraiser list created by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi, states that Tahseen is her cousin), also shared by northgazaupdates.)

Abd Alhadi Aburass (@abdalhadiaburas): Abd is a lawyer from Gaza. He and his family have been displaced. (https://gofund.me/96c9ecfa) (NOT VETTED YET but likely legit. see post here. Here is his IG: abd_alhady_hesham, which @/sneakerdoodle has been able to confirm as connected to Abd's gfm campaign (see the post I've linked))

Aya Alanqar (@ayaalanqarsblog): Aya is a 29 year old mother with three children Abdelrahman (7), Jori (5), and Adam (2). Their house has been destroyed and they have had to move for 13 times since October 2023. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/22ca8368) (shared by 90-ghost.)

4 August

Nadaa (@nedaapalestine): Nadaa has been displaced with her father and mother as their house has been bombed. Her elderly parents need medical care and medication which are unavailable in Gaza. (https://gofund.me/2ba2e9ea) (#107 on the vetted fundraiser list vetted by nabulsi and el-shab-hussein, also been shared by 90-ghost)

Mohammed and Israa Alazaiza (sister: @isra-elazaiza): Mohammed is currently living in Canada and is raising funds to reunite and evacuate his family to safety, including his sister Israa, her 5 year old daughter Sarah and their elderly father who suffers from heart disease and needs medicine that is unavailable in Gaza right now. (https://gofund.me/8d19e0e7) (#236 on the vetted fundraiser spreadsheet vetted by nabulsi and el-shab-hussein)

Samira Al-Habil (@samiraayman): Samira is pregnant and has 3 children. She has been displaced 9 times and her house was completely bombed. She is also suffering from asthma and her children is suffering from skin diseases. Her brother was injured in his foot and stomach. (https://gofund.me/dcee9b58) (vetted by 90-ghost and also vetted by association (this fundraiser was sent to sar-soor by aya2mohammed whose gfm is vetted by el-shab-hussein))

Hadeel Makki (@hadeelmekki): Hadeel is an engineer and a mother of two daughters Mira and Nadia. Her uncle’s family of 5 were all killed in a bombing. Her father-in-law got sick, and due to the lack of medicine, he passed away. The only surviving members of her family are her children, her husband, her mother and two of her brothers, and they are trying to raise money to evacuate. (https://gofund.me/f68b8ea2) (shared by 90-ghost, and vetted by association (mohammedalanqer, whose gmf is #174 on the verified fundraiser list vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi, personally confirms Hadeel's campaign as legit))

Fidaa (@fedao): This campaign raises money for Fidaa’s family and also the families of her two sisters Tahreer and Aseel to evacuate out of Gaza. Fidaa and her husband Hashem have 4 children: Dima, Abdullah, Islam, and Duaa. Hashem has an arm injury and requires medical treatment. Tahreer and her husband also have 4 children: Fatima, Khamees, Sarah and Ameer. Khamees just underwent a tonsillectomy without proper equipment and medication due to a severe infection. Ameer is a toddler with a broken pelvis and in desperate need of medical care. Aseel is an English student. They have been ordered to evacuate again but has nowhere to go. (https://gofund.me/b5896c2f) (vetted by 90-ghost)

Asmaa Majed (@as-maa-56): Asmaa is a 19 year old computer engineering student. Her university was destroyed, as is her home. She and her family are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/51ab1341) (shared by northgazaupdates) (promoted by @banyulepalestineactiongroup on IG (click here to see post). This is her IG: @asma17947) (I know I usually only share campaigns vetted/shared by nabulsi, el-shab-hussein, and 90-ghost, but she seems legit. I asked her if her campaign has been verified when she sent me her first ask, and she sent me two other asks, one containing the link showing that her campaign has been shared by northgazaupdates.)

3 August

Mahmoud AlBalawi (@bisanalbalawi18, @elbalawi, @yasminalbalawiigaza): Mahmoud has have 5 siblings and I have 5 nephews and nieces. Both his father and mother suffer from chronic diseases and require medical care. (https://gofund.me/8395956d) (shared by 90-ghost)

Doaa Jadalhaq (@dodooomar): Doaa is from a family of 23 people, including 11 children. She is now in Egypt with her 5 year old son Omar, who is autistic and requires treatment due to trauma related to bombing. Their family is still in Gaza and their house has been bombed. Her father is 65 and has multiple diseases and diabetes. She is fundraising to get her family out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/af916b12) (shared by 90-ghost)

Ghazi Younis (@ghaziyounes1967): Both Ghazi and his aunt’s houses were bombed. He wanted to evacuate his aunt out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/cdd5cffa) ( vetted by 90-ghost)

Heba Al-Anqar (@heba-baker): Heba is a 21 year old university student from a family of 7. Her father suffers from heart problems while her mother suffers from asthma and shortness of breath an dhas difficulty getting medical treatment. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/4bc28796) (shared by 90-ghost)

Salem Alanqar (@salem-baker): Salem is 26 years old and has two children Laila (5 years old) and Bakr (five months old). They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/a36cb858) (vetted by 90-ghost)

2 August

Amal Alanqar (@amlanqar): Amal is a mother of seven children, including baby Hoor who is only 7 months old. Their 4 year old child Ahmed suffers from diabetes which has worsened due to a lack of insulin in Gaza. They relocated to the south while her husband stayed in the north to care for his ailing father. They wish to escape from Gaza. (https://gofund.me/9d6e3b04) (shared by 90-ghost)

Tawfik (@tawfikblog): Tawfik was a student in Al-Azhar University in Gaza, which was destroyed. He wished to continue his studies at a university in Egypt. (https://gofund.me/21417d56) (shared by 90-ghost) (X: tawfik_satoom)

Malak Dader (@malakabed): Malak is an 18 year old medical student with three little brothers: Moatasem, Fadel and Moataz. 15 year-old Moataz was killed by a missile while fetching water, while another of his brother was injuried in the same incident but couldn’t care medical care. He also has an injuried father. They have been displaced more than 20 times. (https://gofund.me/e27098a6) (vetted by 90-ghost)

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 13 July - 25 July.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 26 July -29 July.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 30 July - 1 August.

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sea-snail-mail · 2 months

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Hello, I am Amal, a mother of seven children ranging from 15 years to 7 months old. Due to escalated war conditions, I relocated to the south, leaving my husband in the north to care for his ailing father. I am eager to reunite with my husband and children as soon as possible. I have initiated a fundraising campaign to support our journey, and I look forward to your support and participation to collectively become a beacon of hope in achieving this dream🙏🙏.

https://gofund.me/9d6e3b04

Hello Amal! Of course, I'm so sorry for everything, thank you for reaching out I'll do whatever I can

Guys please donate and dharae Amal's gofundme, they have been vetted by 90-ghost and are low on funds with €881/€50,000

Here is they're gofundme:

And Here is Amal and her family's story in case you have not seen it:

"Hello, I'm Amal, 33 years old. My husband Eyad is 39, and we have seven children: Hala (15), Nour (13), Abdelrahman (11), Mohammed (9), Omar (6), Ahmed (4), and baby Hoor, just 7 months old.

I cannot bear the panic attacks that Hoor suffers from the constant bombing

In the blink of an eye, we awoke to a devastating barrage of bombs. The war had begun, and soon tanks surrounded us as the northern Gaza Strip was declared off-limits. We fled immediately from the north, leaving behind my husband who had to stay with his elderly father who cannot walk. The presence of checkpoints and the prohibition of vehicles forced my husband to remain in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the north of Gaza.

I fled on foot, just ten days after giving birth. I carried my ten-day-old baby and my other young children, alone, fighting for their safety. A few days later, the northern Gaza Strip was completely isolated, leaving my husband trapped.

My children are the love of my life. In the blink of an eye, we awoke to a devastating barrage of bombs. The war had begun, and soon tanks surrounded us as the northern Gaza Strip was declared off-limits. We fled immediately from the north, leaving behind my husband who had to stay with his elderly father who cannot walk. The presence of checkpoints and the prohibition of vehicles forced my husband to remain in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the north of Gaza.

My children have been deprived of their father, who used to provide all their needs. Their schooling has been halted, and their mental health is in ruins due to the war. My baby girl cannot get proper nutrition and is unable to sleep due to the constant sounds of bombs.

We share our room at school with 40 people, lacking water and sanitary suppliesMy four-year-old son, Ahmed, suffers from diabetes. It is a constant struggle to find insulin injections and test strips. Weeks go by without being able to check his sugar levels, leaving me in fear of whether his levels are too high or too low.

Ahmed's condition break my heartMy husband remains in the north, experiencing severe famine. Periodically, I manage to contact him, learning that he is still alive, but his situation is dire.

We want to escape Gaza and survive this tragic war, to build a decent life for my family, providing the basics of life: food, medical care, and a safe home.

Your donations can make a world of difference for us. Every dollar can help us escape this nightmare and start anew. Your generosity can reunite our family, provide essential medical care for Ahmed, and ensure my children grow up in a peaceful environment.

Your kindness and support mean everything to us. May God bless you for your compassion.

Greetings & Gratitude

Amal"

#free palestine #palestine #free gaza #gaza #free rafah #rafah #gofundme #fundraiser #gaza gofundme #signal boost

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alleyesonrafah · 3 months

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“Hi, My name is Hala, I'm 18 years old, I live with my family in Gaza. I have finished my high school in 2023 with a grade of 94.9 in the scientific stream and began studies at the university,

which was destroyed at the beginning of the war,Unfortunately, my dreams and ambitions were completely destroyed.

We have all been displaced more than seven times to seek safety , We escaped death several times،When we were displaced to the south, this did not mean that we fled to safety, but rather the opposite. Everywhere around us there was bombing all around us and fire belts all the time. And also the malnutrition we suffer from. We have been here for 6 months, haven’t eaten something healthy.

All had dreams but they were completely destroyed after October 7th.My father was snacks merchant and his store was completely burned when we fled south to find safety, My uncle Was working in a hotel Which was completely destroyed and has no source of income left now , My grandfather and grandmother are diabetics and unable to walk. When we were displaced, they found it very difficult to move. They need wheelchairs, which is impossible for them to have now, and they need a lot of medicines that are indispensable, but we had to replace them with very low quality and perhaps inappropriate alternative medicines. We cannot afford to pay the money to get out of this devastating war. We have survived death several times and have been displaced several other times from one place to another to search for safety. We now do not have enough to pay the money to leave Gaza.

My grandfather's condition deteriorated during the war. He was very tired, and we discovered that he had water in his lungs, water in his foot, and swelling in his feet. There is no necessary treatment for him, and there are no highly qualified doctors and no hospitals. Now, I only want to save my grandfather's life as quickly as possible.

Why did we think of this fund raising?

This is the only way to survive as we have to pay $5000 for each person to cross borders to safety.

Wish you could help us.

I wish you help me and save us.”

(Note: 11 SEK = 1$)

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jeanniebug623 · 8 months

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🕸️🕷️ Weaving the Web 🕷️🕸️

Chapter 6: The Diagnosis

Spider was bored. But that was the least of his problems…

Two weeks in a hospital room with nothing to do except NOT go crazy. Well, crazy as in not let out his new unpredictable side. Quaritch checked on him daily as well as a very limited staff of doctors. After those two weeks with no sign of Miles, the colonel felt secure enough to reintroduce Ja. The teen didn’t say anything when the team medic came into the room, only readjusted his arms wrapped around his knees and nodded awkwardly as a greeting.

Ja reassured Spider there were no hard feelings and that his presence was purely professional. He wanted to help the boy understand what he was experiencing. Quaritch theorized that Spider would be more comfortable in the presence of the recoms due to his upbringing. Yes, he’d grown up with other humans but those traitors could barely call themselves that due to their loyalties.

”It’s called dissociative identity disorder.” Ja said as he sat at Spider’s bedside. Quaritch stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed and gauging the boy’s reaction. The colonel hadn’t even known his genetic predecessor's son was on Pandora and he’d thrown him into the lion’s den without a second thought. A sixteen-year-old boy versus the ruthless might of the RDA. He had to ignore the regret and focus on the present…

”Sounds like a fancy way to say I’m fucked in the head…” Spider said quietly. His voice was sad and empty.

”No, not at all.” Ja reassured him, putting on a small smile for a brief moment before continuing with a more serious tone, “But it is a serious mental health disorder that we can’t ignore. It’s also known as multiple personality disorder. I’m sure you can guess why.”

The colonel felt his brain reeling at the memories of his interactions with Spider’s new personality: Miles. He couldn’t even feel proud that the kid chose that name so proudly. ‘Miles’ was strong, immovable, and highly defensive of Spider. But he was also violent and unpredictable. Miles didn’t care who got in his way; he would destroy anyone he deemed a threat to Spider. But Spider’s safety wasn’t completely in the forefront of Miles’ mind as evident by how he acted without concern for his physical condition.

”So I’m just fucked in multiple ways……awesome.” Spider said, pulling his legs even tighter to his body. So many thoughts rushed through his head. Physically, he felt fine. He’d been in the hospital with lots of rest and solid meals for a couple weeks. He even mentioned a headache, he was quickly rushed to a CT scan and given pain meds soon after. But emotionally? He was terrified. He was still not fully understanding this diagnosis.

”Spider, it’s not about being fucked up.” Quaritch said, his tone equal parts firm and caring. Unlike when Ja spoke and the boy avoided eye contact, he looked up to the colonel when he chimed in. “It’s about knowing and understanding this condition. And acting accordingly.”

”Will it go away?” Spider asked quietly. Quaritch looked at Ja, prompting Spider to do the same. “Like…you can cure it, right, doc?”

Doc was certainly a nicer nickname than ‘wet nurse’ as Miles had called him. Ja wished he had a better answer…

“Spider, I’m sorry. Even with where medical advances are, the brain is still too complex to just ‘cure’.” Ja said, wanting to sound more comforting as the kid visibly deflated and buried his face in his arms. “But the brain is an organ like anything else. Mental health is just as important as physical health. And when you know the problem, it’s easier to control. Do you know what diabetes is, Spider?”

Spider didn’t lift his head up, but he did shake it from side to side in his arms as a ‘no’.

”Diabetes is a condition where a human’s blood sugar level is not properly regulated by their body’s natural process. A medicine called insulin is administered to control it. Modern medicine has discovered ways to permanently control it with implants but not everyone can afford it back on Earth so a lot of people still have to take insulin every day. It doesn’t go away but they can control it.” Ja explained.

”So, is there medicine I can take to control this?” Spider asked, lifting his head a bit and sounding hopeful. Taking medicine every day for the rest of his life sounded like a pain but he would at least be able to live his life. Maybe, escape this circle of hell called Bridgehead City someday. But he wouldn’t feel safe trying to run away…even if he did pull it off, how would he react to his friends? Would he be violent towards them or the science guys or the rest of the Na’vi? That terrified him more than anything…

Ja went quiet and looked to his commanding officer for assistance on this one. The medic had given the entire squad the quick version of what dissociative identity disorder was. The conversation that followed was a free speech conversation but it didn’t go anywhere.

They were on a mission to find Jake Sully. The kid should be left with the medical staff and scientists now. He wasn’t their problem since he hadn’t given them any useful info on the enemy. He was a liability now. Maybe it would be better if the RDA just locked him up for good.

His squad, aside from his old friend Lyle, didn’t understand Quartch’s feelings on the matter. He didn’t have to give his opinion for the corporal to know his bland tone was forced or that the way he ground his teeth while squaring his jaw was very much a ‘human colonel’ cue that he was upset. Even if these squad didn’t have a connection to the kid, they should be respectful that their commanding officer did.

”No, tiger. There’s drugs to control symptoms but not the DID itself.” Quaritch said, those big brown sad eyes looking back at him. It was like looking at a puppy begging for scraps. He leaned forward on the side rails of the bed, creaking under his weight. “But we’re gonna figure this out. Mental health…stuff…it can be handled in its own way. Right, doc?”

”Exactly!” Ja said, finally able to have a genuinely hopeful tone. “YOU are in control, Spider. You are the core identity. ‘Miles’ is an alternate personality.”

”He was always there…wasn’t he?” Spider asked, sounding unsure. Scared even.

He thought back on all the times he was scared or angry as a young child. When he wanted to hit someone or throw something in rage but didn’t due to the consequences.

Ja sighed and shrugged a bit, “I can’t say for sure. I’m sure the trai-…people who raised you kept track of your medical history growing up?”

Spider shrugged and it made Quaritch’s blood start to boil. Did those human traitors not care enough about the humans being born on Pandora to keep track of those things? Their growth, their health? Wouldn’t the kid have at least been a good ‘experiment’ as the first human born on Pandora?

“We only have five months worth of medical records for you in RDA archives.” Ja said.

”What?” Quaritch and Spider said simultaneously.

The good medic opted to look at Quaritch to explain but Spider listened just as attentively.

”Monthly checkups when Paz went in for postpartum care. Despite the backlash from the initial pregnancy announcement, a lot of people changed their tune when Spider was born completely healthy and Paz recovered faster than most new mothers.” Ja explained.

Spider felt a new warmth spread through himself hearing about his mom. She sounded like a tough woman. Made him proud and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

”Paz was an amazing woman.” Quaritch remarked and, though he only knew her reputation, Ja nodded in agreement.

Ja looked back to Spider, “You might have had preexisting signs of this condition. The fact that you can remember when Miles is in control to some degree is even rarer than the condition itself.”

”I can’t say I remember…” Spider said, finally letting one arm loose and put his right hand to the side of his head, fingers slipping in his locs, “…it’s more of a feeling. Like…something’s off. Like I know I did something wrong…”

”You haven’t done ANYTHING wrong, Spider.” Quaritch said firmly, ear pinning back, “You understand me?”

”I bit someone’s face…” Spider said flatly, giving the colonel an unconvinced look. He hadn’t seen the guy who’d made the mistake of trying to fasten a strap across his chest when Miles was on the loose. But he heard plenty of rumors how savage he’d been in the strike. Miles had managed to sink his teeth into the man’s cheek and lower jaw, tearing a flap of flesh off that was barely hanging on when it was stitched back into place.

“I’m not saying bad shit hasn’t happened but you’re not at fault.” Quaritch elaborated. Spider was a feisty one, but he didn’t have the heart to hurt someone for no reason. THAT much Quaritch had learned about the boy in the short few weeks.

”Did all this happen because of that demon machine?” Spider asked suddenly with a growl. He gripped his head a little tighter, closing his eyes. He could feel a headache starting behind his right eye when he thought about the neuroscanner.

”It’s a possibility…” Ja said cautiously, glancing at Quaritch.

It was more than a possibility in Quaritch’s mind, probably in Ja’s too. They’d seen the brain scans after each session in the neuroscanner. They physically saw the changes in brain activity. Ja explained that the scans focused on probing the frontal lobe where memory is stored. However, he also explained that this is the brain’s primary storage for personality traits. If they were forcibly prying into that part of the brain, it was inevitable that cracks would spread.

”Soooo…” Spider started, closing his eyes tightly and turning into his own hand, “You kidnap me…torture me…break my brain…and NOW you want to help me?”

”None of this was planned, kid.” Quaritch said weakly. “I would’ve put an end to it.”

”Before or after the torture?” Spider spat out, moving his left arm down to grip the starchy fabric of the sheets. “Maybe a little torture would’ve been ok? As long as you got what you wanted, right? But you let it go too far and now I’m broken. Useless to you and dangerous to others! Awesome…”

Quaritch stared at the boy, unable to respond. Yes, he’d been on board with the neuroscanner. But not the four sessions he’d been subjected to. He’d been present at two of them, including the last one he’d stopped when his concern for the boy’s wellbeing surpassed following orders. It would be a poor excuse to divert blame and he knew to say he didn’t agree to all the sessions wasn’t enough to make up for the damage done.

”You’re not useless.” Quaritch said instead, “The team still needs to learn what insults you’re spittin’ out in Na’vi.”

Spider scoffed and rolled his eyes.

”I’m workin’ on it, Spider.”

”On what?”

”Gettin’ you back out in the field.”

Spider looked up at Quaritch, a strange look in his eyes. He looked excited at first but tried to hide it. He was worried it was just an empty promise.

”First, I want to get you out of this room. Sound good?” Quaritch asked. Not that he intended to stop challenging Ardmore on this, but he wanted the boy to be in the loop and have some say in it. If he didn’t want to leave the hospital, he’d accept it with grace but still move forward with the next step in his plan…

”I don’t wanna go back to a cell…” Spider said quickly, his voice cracking in an embarrassing way. The hospital room wasn’t exciting but it was better than a prison cell with four plain white walls, a hard metal platform with barely a padded mat to sleep on, and a toilet in the corner for those perverts behind the cameras to watch him use.

”Not a cell, I promise. You’ll stick with me.” Quaritch said. He put on the most reassuring smile he could, even though he still had a massive obstacle in the way of General Ardmore. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep, kid.”

This promise was nonnegotiable.

#atwow #avatar the way of water #atwow fanfiction #miles spider socorro #spider quaritch #recom quaritch #weaving the web #ao3 writer

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nadezhda-wexler · 2 months

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Vetted by @90-ghost

Please help Amal!! Donate, share and share again to help! This is vetted!!!

From the GoFundMe:

Hello,

I'm Amal, 33 years old. My husband Eyad is 39, and we have seven children: Hala (15), Nour (13), Abdelrahman (11), Mohammed (9), Omar (6), Ahmed (4), and baby Hoor, just 7 months old.

I cannot bear the panic attacks that Hoor suffers from the constant bombing

My children are the love of my life

It was incredibly difficult to care for my children without my husband, moving from one place to another. I finally sought refuge in a shelter school in Deir Al-Balah.

We share our room at school with 40 people, lacking water and sanitary supplies

My four-year-old son, Ahmed, suffers from diabetes. It is a constant struggle to find insulin injections and test strips. Weeks go by without being able to check his sugar levels, leaving me in fear of whether his levels are too high or too low.

Ahmed's condition break my heart

My husband remains in the north, experiencing severe famine. Periodically, I manage to contact him, learning that he is still alive, but his situation is dire.

We want to escape Gaza and survive this tragic war, to build a decent life for my family, providing the basics of life: food, medical care, and a safe home.

Your kindness and support mean everything to us. May God bless you for your compassion.

Greetings & Gratitude

Amal

It's a devastating world out there, let's all do what we can.

#palestine #free palestine #free gaza #gofundme #donate

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lvpussybag · 4 months

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DONATION LINK: gofund.me/a5839e0d

Good day, They personally contacted me asking for help. They have a family of 9; a mother, a father, 6 girls, and a young boy, two of whom lost their university studies and universities due to the ongoing tragedy that is happening in PALESTINE. They have thought of emigrating to somewhere safe with the right care and safety they DESERVE due to the danger increasing and increasing. They are suffering from panic, fear, and the bitterness of displacement. Among them is a girl who suffers from severe difficulty moving. She needs a wheelchair and is not suited to the atmosphere of tents and displacement. She needs a safe place and medical care. They have lost many friends and family, and they have lost their grandfather’s house, The doctors amputated my grandfather’s foot as a result of his diabetes, due to the lack of adequate care due to the tents and the lack of medicine. Their grandfather is the favorite grandfather of any girl. They feel sad that their home, their COUNTRY have been DESTROYED. They need to collect the money as quickly as possible. Please help me secure safe passage for them to Egypt.

PLEASE PLEASE DONATE AND IF YOU CANT, SHARE. Thank you.

DONATION LINK: gofund.me/a5839e0d

#fypシ #tumblr fyp #coquette #gaza #palestine #y2k #free palestine

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judjira · 2 years

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tzuyu’s day off

AN: im back again with another self-indulgent apartment au, this time it’s tzuyu ! this one is actually a lil sloppy coming from me, but i still dig it HAHA next up is the devil herself (or one of them, at least) !

pairing: datzu apartment au wc: 1459

Tzuyu took her job very seriously.

The task of a guardian angel was to protect their charge above all costs. Especially from mortal danger. Humans were weak, fleshy, and easily punctured. There was no shortage of dangers that could befall them.

Who knew what grave perils could be lurking around the corner, ready to strike?

And this…this might have been one of the gravest dangers of all.

“I’m going grocery shopping, everyone.”

A day off.

“Oh, Dahyun, can you get me some more salt and chalk?”

This was unprecedented. Kim Dahyun’s schedule was supposed to be set in stone, fixed and unmovable.

Until her university cancelled classes for the day.

Those bastards.

“Why, so you can make more angel and devil traps, Chaeng? I don’t think so.”

“Aw man.”

They probably planned this, all so Kim Dahyun would break her routine, and stumble upon an irregularity to her daily schedule that might endanger her.

How devious.

“You need anything, Tzu?”

“I am alright.”

Thankfully, Tzuyu was here to prevent that from happening.

No harm would come to Kim Dahyun, the Lady of the Sanctuary. Not under her watch.

“Then I’m off. See you all later.”

A chorus of voices chime in.

“Bye Dahyun!”

“See ya later, Dahyun.”

“Woof!”

“Farewell, my Lady.”

As soon as the door closed, Tzuyu willed her physical form away, vanishing with only the sound of flapping wings in her wake.

She immediately hone: in on Kim Dahyun’s position, just seconds after leaving the apartment. Her angelic essence would do well to mask her presence from the human, allowing Tzuyu to do her job in secret.

Tzuyu hovered above the apartment, before flying down to where Kim Dahyun was, walking along the sidewalk to the nearest grocery store.

There she was, in all her beauty.

Pale skin, long black hair, gentle eyes.

Not at all aware of the immediate danger that was about to befall her.

A pebble.

Right in the way of her foot, ready to trip her down to the pavement, breaking her neck and killing her instantly.

Not if Tzuyu had anything to say about it.

Tzuyu swooped down, calling upon her angelic powers.

Light suffused her invisible form, like that of the sun, harnessing the energy of the heavens themselves to coalesce around Kim Dahyun.

And with one burst of her aura, her will became true.

The pebble nudged one inch to the right.

Kim Dahyun’s walk remained unimpeded.

Tzuyu patted herself on the back. Then quickly refocused, not resting on her laurels. The day had only begun, after all. Who knew what else threatened the safety of her charge?

Next up, the supermarket. A capitalist deathtrap, luring people in with the promise of food and supplies, its linoleum aisles and frozen closets waiting for the right moment to strike at unknowing passersby.

Just looking at it made Tzuyu sick.

Kim Dahyun wheeled a cart theough one of these said aisles, humming as she looked through boxes of human cereal.

Oh no.

Tzuyu saw it.

One of, if not the greatest, danger in the supermarket.

Kim Dahyun’s favorite cereal, Frosties.

The damn thing was 37% sugar! With that kind of statistic, having enough would give Kim Dahyun diabetes. Then, she’d miss her insulin injections because she was so forgetful, causing her to die alone in her sleep with no one to help her, because no one would know, because Kim Dahyun slept like she was already dead.

Good thing Tzuyu was here to save her.

With a close of her eyes and a flex of her wrist, heavenly energy gathered in her stomach, until light shone on the cereal aisle, visible only to those who had a third eye.

And with a snap of her fingers, that energy bursted forth.

“Aw man…no Frosties?”

Another attempt at Kim Dahyun’s life prevented successfully.

The day was passing quickly, the afternoon sun already beginning to set as Kim Dahyun finished her groceries, paper bags in both arms as she braved the trek home.

The way home was safe, only because Tzuyu made sure it was. Any dangerous pebbles or deep puddles found themselves promptly disposed of.

But there was one last problem that needed to be taken care of, as Kim Dahyun reentered the apartment building.

“I’m making dinner.”

Dinner.

The most dangerous event of all.

Knives, fire, and poison.

Well, potentially poison, at least, if the food was cooked wrong.

Usually, the fallen angel, Ko—or rather, Yoo Jeongyeon as she liked to be called now, would be the one to make dinner for everyone, especially those with special appetites, like the vampire or the werewolf, but it was Kim Dahyun’s day off, Tzuyu should have foreseen this coming.

Seeing no point in obscuring her presence anymore, she reveals herself behind Kim Dahyun.

“I shall assist you.”

Kim Dahyun jumps, startled.

“Jesus Christ, Tzu.”

Tzuyu frowns.

“What about Him?”

Recovering from the scare, Kim Dahyun sighed, an exasperated smile coming on her lips as she patted Tzuyu on her chest, the touch somewhat confusing to Tzuyu.

“Never mind. Come on, let’s get that bread, huh?”

A furrow of the brow.

“Bread? I did not see you getting bread.”

“So, that was you who was following me around.”

Tzuyu’s eyes widened, taken aback.

“How did you know someone was following you?”

Kim Dahyun giggled, taking Tzuyu’s hand—a warm feeling overtaking Tzuyu’s chest—as she led her into the kitchen.

“You made a pebble disappear in front of my feet, Tzu, you weren’t exactly being subtle.”

Tzuyu grunted in acknowledgment as Kim Dahyun hung an apron over her, going around Tzuyu to tie it together. She’d be more careful not to be noticed in future excursions. If Kim Dahyun could see her, then who else could?

Then again, Kim Dahyun, the mortal of many names, was a special case.

“Let’s get started. Can you cut these for me?”

A knife is placed into her hands, along with a chopping board and some vegetables.

Tzuyu’s eyes flick to Kim Dahyun. She needs to watch over her, cooking can be one of, if not the most, dangerous tasks to accomplish in the household, right next to attempting to bargain with the damn devil that lived next door to her.

Her hand is placed on the knob to the burner. The sound of the fire going has Tzuyu narrowing her eyes, watching Kim Dahyun’s every movement.

Oil splatters onto the pan, bubbles beginning to form as the oil sizzles. The heat could very well kill a person, if used correctly. Tzuyu has to watch every single thing, hands ready to flex and call upon her angelic power to protect her charge.

A flattened piece of some sort of meat is placed onto the pan, and the sizzling intensifies, oil splashing out of the pan.

Some of it gets onto Kim Dahyun’s hand.

“Ooph. Hot.”

The next second has Tzuyu immediately unfurling her wings, ready to smite this presumptuous stove for daring to hurt her human.

“How dare you—”

“Tzu.”

The relatively calm tone in Kim Dahyun’s voice has Tzuyu stopping immediately. There’s an unimpressed look on her face.

“What did we say about revealing your true form in the apartment?”

“…we said not to.”

“And?”

“…that we have to ask for permission first.”

“Did you ask for permission?”

“…no.”

“There we go. Can you please turn back so I can open my eyes again?”

Tzuyu reverts back into her mortal form, a slump to her shoulders. She failed in protecting her charge. She’s a disgrace of the highest order, not even fit to be a guardian angel. She’s completely failed her mission. She might as well go back to heaven and—

“Oh, sweetie, you’ve cut yourself.”

Kim Dahyun’s voice breaks her out of her reverie, attention being brought to her finger, a small cut on the very tip of her index. Silver ichor drips out of it slowly.

“Let me get a band-aid for you.”

The Lady of the Sanctuary rummages around her top cupboard to take out what seems to be a band-aid with a pink kitten on it.

“Here, it’s Hello Kitty. This’ll make it feel better.”

Tzuyu watches as Kim Dahyun plasters a Hello Kitty band-aid onto her index finger.

“All better?”

She nods, numbly.

“Now, thank you for watching over me today, but I’m the Lady of the Sanctuary, remember? It’s me who does the protecting around here.”

It was an unfathomable concept, for a mortal to be protecting a being of her stature. Humans were weak, fleshy and easily punctured. It only made sense for a seraphim like Tzuyu to be doing the protecting.

“Go and sit in the lounge and wait for dinner, okay?”

But this…this wasn’t so bad, either.

“At your command, Kim Dahyun.”

#apartment au #drabble #datzu #twice fanfic #twice fic #dahyun x tzuyu

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kamyru · 1 year

Text

The blood on my hands scares me to death (Toshiki Kasumi, Munechika Takado & Sentaro Kyogoku) (Shorts)

This is for @voltagefandomproject

TW: Mention of death, losing patients and suicide

Toshiki Kasumi

Words counting: 300

Dr. Kasumi closed the door of his office and put away his jacket. He wanted to relax but couldn't. So, he walked in circles in his office, trying to be as discrete as possible and not make enough noise to be heard by his colleagues from ICU. He sat on his seat, then stood up the next second. Dr. Kasumi didn't remember checking if he closed to door with the key. He had to go and do it.

The moment the cardiologist's hands touched the knob, he froze. The metal didn't feel cold. It was warm, nearly as warm as a living human. No, no, no! Toshiki Kasumi couldn't stand it. Minutes ago, he met his best friend's parents at his grave. "If it's not the Angel of Death," they said to him. Kasumi couldn't see it, but he could feel it: the blood on his hands. He had to do something about it. Where was the sink? WHERE WAS THE DAMN SINK?

The head of EICU tried to open the door, but it was locked. The beautiful man nearly broke down the door while trying to escape his asphyxiating room. He could swear that the blood of his dead patients hit his face but couldn't do anything about it when his hands were dirty.

"It's today," Dr. Takado whispered when he saw his boss rushing from his office to the bathroom in the on-call room. He froze with his eyes on the door. His lips got as thin as a needle. One, two, five, ten minutes passed, and Dr. Kasumi returned. The orthopedist's eyes traveled from his face to his hands. They were red and with a rash. The same happened the last year and the year before the last. And would probably happen the next one too.

Munechika Takado

Words counting: 370

Dr. Takado opened his eyes and threw aside the blanket he messily put over himself two hours ago. Why did he go home when his entire life was in the hospital? He didn't do enough yet again. Where did he leave his car keys? At least he was smart enough not to get in his home clothes. Dr. Takado didn't have a home. He had no right to own one after all he did. His money was made out of blood, flesh, and tears. He didn't have the right to use them.

The head of the EICU let out a sigh when he heard the door of the headquarters opening and closing loudly, followed by heavy steps. He didn't need to leave his office to know that the doctor who had left less than three hours ago was back. However, he stopped writing when he heard a barely audible mumble from the other room. When he got closer to the door, the words became clear enough to be understood.

"Where did I put the patient's file."

After another minute, Takado planted himself in one of the multitudes of empty seats, surrounded by textbooks, papers from the file, and a running computer. He had to know if there was a way to save the patient's diabetic foot attacked by gangrene. What if, a few hours before the surgery, someone discovered a way to save them? What if he missed a "Nota Bene" from his textbooks that said the recovery without the amputation was higher than he had thought?

But no, it was just like Dr. Takado knew. The amputation was imminent. He left the office and walked away while looking at his hands. The orthopedist was thought to be one of the best in Japan, and even in the world. However, the number of limbs he cut off was too high to make him proud. Why his bloody hands were still on their places while kids had to learn to walk with no legs?

"The safety nets on the roof aren't put there only for the patients," Dr. Ekuni wrote on his board, covered his face with his arm, and tried to get enough sleep for both him and Dr. Takado.

Sentaro Kyogoku

Words counting: 271

CPR on kids is made with only one hand pressed in the middle of their chest. The frequency of the compresses has to be around 100-120 and their depth between 4-5 cm.

Dr. Sen was used to performing CPR so much that he could last around ten minutes without being replaced by someone else. He was more than sure that he could last twice that time. Though, he couldn't confirm it, being surrounded by empathetic and well-taught colleagues.

But there was one thing about CPR Dr. Sentaro Kyogoku couldn't get used to - stopping it for declaring the moment of death.

It was ten minutes since the pediatrician fell on his knees in front of the child he had tried his best to save from cancer for more than a year. Ten minutes since he tried to convince the God he didn't believe in, to give their soul back. Dr. Sen failed this time, like many others. He wouldn't hear the kid complaining about chest pain in the morning. However, he would hear the sound of their ribs contracting while trying to fall asleep for two hours.

People had told Sentaro Kyogoku that he looked like an angel, and unlike Kasumi, they didn't add "of death" afterward. But of what use were their words if he couldn't save every child in the world from suffering? Of what use was his face when he was losing five patients a day?

The latex on Dr. Sen's hands stopped him from feeling the warmth living in the kid's body. And now that it was gone, it was no use because the warmth also disappeared.

#romance md: always on call #romance md #toshiki kasumi #munechika takado #sentaro kyogoku #voltage inc #voltage fandom ccc

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rainbowywitch · 19 days

Note

Hello 🙏,

I am Amal, a mother of seven children ranging from 15 years to 7 months old 🍉.

Due to escalated war conditions, I relocated to the south, leaving my husband in the north to care for his ailing father.

I am eager to reunite with my husband and children as soon as possible 🙏♥️.

I have initiated a fundraising campaign to support our journey, and I look forward to your support and participation to collectively become a beacon of hope in achieving this dream🙏🙏.

Vetted by @90-ghost

https://gofund.me/9d6e3b04

Hello, I'm Amal, 33 years old. My husband Eyad is 39, and we have seven children: Hala (15), Nour (13), Abdelrahman (11), Mohammed (9), Omar (6), Ahmed (4), and baby Hoor, just 7 months old. I cannot bear the panic attacks that Hoor suffers from the constant bombing In the blink of an eye, we awoke to a devastating barrage of bombs. The war had begun, and soon tanks surrounded us as the northern Gaza Strip was declared off-limits. We fled immediately from the north, leaving behind my husband who had to stay with his elderly father who cannot walk. The presence of checkpoints and the prohibition of vehicles forced my husband to remain in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the north of Gaza. I fled on foot, just ten days after giving birth. I carried my ten-day-old baby and my other young children, alone, fighting for their safety. A few days later, the northern Gaza Strip was completely isolated, leaving my husband trapped.

My children are the love of my life It was incredibly difficult to care for my children without my husband, moving from one place to another. I finally sought refuge in a shelter school in Deir Al-Balah. My children have been deprived of their father, who used to provide all their needs. Their schooling has been halted, and their mental health is in ruins due to the war. My baby girl cannot get proper nutrition and is unable to sleep due to the constant sounds of bombs. We share our room at school with 40 people, lacking water and sanitary supplies My four-year-old son, Ahmed, suffers from diabetes. It is a constant struggle to find insulin injections and test strips. Weeks go by without being able to check his sugar levels, leaving me in fear of whether his levels are too high or too low.

Ahmed's condition break my heart My husband remains in the north, experiencing severe famine. Periodically, I manage to contact him, learning that he is still alive, but his situation is dire. We want to escape Gaza and survive this tragic war, to build a decent life for my family, providing the basics of life: food, medical care, and a safe home. Your donations can make a world of difference for us. Every dollar can help us escape this nightmare and start anew. Your generosity can reunite our family, provide essential medical care for Ahmed, and ensure my children grow up in a peaceful environment. Your kindness and support mean everything to us. May God bless you for your compassion. Greetings & Gratitude Amal

#palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza

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city-of-longevity · 24 days

Text

Innovation against isolation and loneliness and the role of cities.

Nic Palmarini, Director, UK's National Innovation Centre for Ageing.

The four horsemen vs. the wonder drug.

We know very well who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who - typically in late adulthood - come banging on the door of our lives and who amount to over 80% of deaths in people over 50 who do not smoke: Atherosclerotic disease (comprised of cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease), Cancer, Neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's disease being the most common) "Foundational disease", a spectrum of everything hyperinsulinemia to insulin resistance to fatty liver disease to type 2 diabetes.

We know just as well that to counter them, besides the science on which the redeeming business model of cure is based, there is only one actual wonder drug: prevention. The literature is vast and consolidated on choices and virtuous behaviours: sleeping well, staying active, a balanced diet, keeping the mind engaged and sustained by a purpose, and a strong network of relationships.

On the first four aspects, much technology has made its fortune in recent years by exploiting the mobile + IoT boom boosted by increasingly effective and sophisticated machine learning systems thanks to the mass of data generated by us, with thousands of applications combined with sensors to measure performance, metabolism, stress or the level of attention, in other words, our quantified self. Much less, however, has been done to help us live 'with' and 'in' a society whose social and economic dynamics are prone to exacerbate phenomena such as isolation and loneliness. It must be admitted social connection - the structure, function, and quality of our relationships with others - is still an underappreciated contributor to individual and population health, community safety, resilience, and prosperity.

Technology-supported innovation solutions have mainly focused on care - formal or informal - led by the American trailblazers (the historic Papa and Honor, the now defunct Heroes, and the rising star CareYaya), which have inspired hundreds of start-ups all over the world that have literally copied their logic and services, and then declined some aspects of it until arriving at the various' grandchildren rental' we have in Italy. A mainly "care-like" approach, we were saying. Without forgetting the founding pillars of Apple, Meta, Google, and Amazon - the enablers of the digital dynamics of relationships - who invest in innovation to promote relationship, engagement, participation, and inclusion?

In fact, the first question would be: what kind of society finds itself renting grandchildren to make up for its lack of essential interaction? To answer - however superficially and without opening what would be a necessary chapter on the founding values of each culture - we are obliged to refer to an 'advanced Western society', even in its relational decline. It is no coincidence, in fact, that grandchildren rentals are the clone of what, eight years ago, it seems like a geological era, Chuck McCarthy observed in Los Angeles as a dramatic social phenomenon and - to that - responded with The People Walker [1].

Faced with the emergence of the isolation of men and women in the inner cities as well as in the suburbs of middle-class America, and well before the phenomenon was amplified by a devastating event such as the COVID-19 pandemic, McCarthy accompanied hundreds of strangers on foot for thousands of miles walking people who were isolated in their home and without anybody to have a walk with, to earn a few extra bucks and get himself out of the house more too.

"Twice a week for the past month, I've paid an underemployed actor $30 an hour to walk me through the hills of L.A. like a Labrador. Chuck McCarthy isn't a dog walker, though; he's a people walker."

Attesting to a cultural difference between the smooth social fabric of U.S. megacities where larger cities are basically two-tiered (a wealthy downtown professional class relies on inexpensive labourers who can't afford to live near their workplace or drive a car; who are forced into long commutes creating a sort of a social vacuum) and that of old Europe is as obvious as it is necessary.

Europe, particularly Italy, has a profoundly different urban context, population distribution and social fabric. Without going into the merits of factors such as population density per square kilometre or the role of the Church, one fact suffices: in Italy, among people aged 75 and over, 51% live no more than one kilometre from their nearest child and 20% live with them. Only 8.9% have no children and live alone, and only 0.9% have children far away abroad[1]. And yet, even though this figure is all in all an exceptional dimension, isolation is a phenomenon that - in the face of a society that is progressively older, urbanized and increasingly enveloped in the violent polarization of its digi-social loops - shows all its disturbing pervasiveness.

Isolation and loneliness are not the same thing.

Social isolation and loneliness are often cited as one Siamese brothers, inextricably linked. But they are not the same thing.

We have often associated old age with loneliness out of principle or narrative convenience because, all things considered, it is more effective and easier to narrate. Loneliness is a feeling that develops when there's a perceived difference between desired and actual levels of social interaction, meaning, and relationships. Loneliness is a subjective state and more easily strikes the imagination because it appeals to that feeling we all know well, that fear we all had as children when, for a second, we lost sight of the reassuring face of mum or dad. We felt lost, abandoned, and deprived of that need for care that accompanies puppies of all species like the whole life suddenly has no meaning. We felt lonely. Imagining an older man alone strikes at the heart because it strikes at our childhood self.

And so, we talk about the 'pandemic of loneliness', not distinguishing it from isolation, which instead refers to social relationships, social roles, group membership and the social interactions that ensue. Not only that, isolation relates to not only 'presence' but also to inclusion. Its form is, therefore, more insidious and more challenging to portray. People living alone can still feel content with their level of social activity, and people physically surrounded by others can still feel lonely and disconnected.

The relationship between isolation and loneliness is dynamic and interconnected, where one dimension contributes to triggering the other with often devastating consequences. But the triggering process seems straightforward. An observational Harvard study published in SSM–Population Health sought to find out if one problem might be more dangerous than the other. Researchers analysed the health data of almost 14,000 people (ages 50 or older) who were followed for four years. Both loneliness and isolation were associated with poor health outcomes. But, social isolation was a stronger predictor of physical decline and early death. Loneliness was more predictive of mental health issues, such as depression or feeling that life had no meaning[2].

In ancient times, humans relied on social bonding and communication with others for "mutual aid and protection"; becoming socially isolated was essentially a risk to one's survival and almost a sentence to death. Today, we have enough data to give dimension to the evidence that common sense has always suggested. The lack of social connection poses a significant risk to individual health and longevity. “Loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of premature death by 26% and 29%, respectively. More broadly, lacking social connection can increase the risk of premature death. In addition, poor or insufficient social connection is associated with an increased risk of disease, including a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. Furthermore, it is associated with an increased risk for anxiety, depression, and dementia. Additionally, the lack of social connection may increase susceptibility to viruses and respiratory illness”[3].

Although these data refer to late adulthood, which is the subject of our interest on this occasion, to think that loneliness and social isolation are phenomena of old age is a distortion, again, driven by common stereotypes such as thinking of young age as that of lightness, carefreeness, social relations and therefore free from the phenomena of disconnection and participation. We know very well that this is not the case, and recent data, in some worlds, suggested by the Pandemic, have indeed shown us the extent and seriousness of these phenomena for the younger generations with a particular risk of social isolation not only experienced but also simply perceived.

These include and are amplified by changes in peer development, autonomy development, identity exploration, cognitive maturation, social perspective development, and physical maturation. This is baggage whose weight then spills over throughout life with consequences that are still difficult to measure objectively longitudinally but which to ignore would be a colossal mistake both contextually and prospectively. It, therefore, becomes clear that in the face of this scenario, social isolation and the resulting risk of loneliness no longer represent a mere contextual dimension to the horsemen of the apocalypse: they are often its initiator and silent accelerator.

Innovation means fighting the root causes.

As we usually do, addicted to a pathology-centric and cure-centric model (the current medical and pharmacological business model), we focus on the effects with little interest in the causes. If we do not focus on the causes, in fact, not only do we content ourselves with promoting palliative forms whose efficacy is yet to be proven (least of all, in this case, the idea of a 'magic pill' that 'cures' isolation or loneliness makes sense) but we also actually limit the development of that innovation capable of suggesting system solutions instead of praesidium solutions.

In our analysis of root causes, 'Loss' appears to be the main trigger factor[4].

Loss of physical and mental ability: Health issues can limit one's ability to attend and participate in social activities with others;

Loss of family and friends: Social networks naturally shrink over time if not maintained, eventually leading to isolation;

Loss of professional identity: Many underestimate retirement's emotional impact from the sudden reduction of daily social interactions;

Loss of recognition in media and market: Aging stereotypes perpetuate older adult portrayals as dependent on others and non-contributing;

Loss of social status: The concept of ageing often becomes associated with loss of social status, recognition, and value;

Loss of a purpose in life: Difficulty in finding purpose after retirement can be an isolating experience that drives societal disconnect;

Therefore, if we want to stimulate system innovation, we must ensure that any solution designed to mitigate loneliness and isolation must target the underlying cause – loss. And like treating similar devastating physical ailments like heart disease and diabetes, the most effective solutions support identification and preventative action.

To prevent loss and keep older adults connected and engaged in their communities, we must re-think many aspects of society, from employment to education, transportation, housing and more. Researchers, advocacy groups, and public health workers need better tools to aggregate and mine data, identify at-risk people and communities, and deploy interventions more quickly. And when loss does occur, older adults need tools and support to build and enhance their social capital in the same way they might nurture financial capital. Serving older adults involves many stakeholders – family, caregivers, healthcare practitioners, and social workers – all of whom want to work in a more connected way but lack the underlying structure or tools to do so.

Currently, there's no effective or accurate way to screen for isolation or loneliness – no standard tool or protocols exist. Loneliness can often hide in plain sight as it often presents with other conditions such as poverty or depression. And in North America and northern Europe, cultures that can place a high value on independence and stoicism, there's a real stigma to admitting to loneliness and an unwillingness to seek help.

There is also a pervasive assumption that older adults are reluctant to use technology, but did we ask them? Did we provide a meaningful, usable, accessible technology for them?

Abstract from Loneliness and aging: Navigating an enduring crisis [6]

As usual, where we see an issue related to ageing, we should also be open-minded enough to see the opportunity since - given the global economic system in which our society is rooted - the only way to reduce inequalities and scale solutions that can help a broader population is to identify the opportunities for the potential stakeholders. Which might not be "the usual suspects". There is enormous opportunity across multiple sectors, and no one industry or organisation will have a "magic button" for this issue – instead, the best solutions will cut across industry silos, from universities working with communities to create inter-generational housing for students and seniors, to telecom providers working with electronics vendors on virtual town-square projects, to self-driving vehicles – whose more enthusiastic audience may be older adults, because the reward to risk ratio is so high. The potential of cognitive and IoT technologies to deliver data integration, personalisation, natural language processing and scalability will be essential to support these solutions.

How do we create a new kind of village?

Three main questions can drive innovation:

Even if isolation and loneliness can happen in every context – a crowded condo, a school room, a dance hall, a public park in a village or a neighbourhood -it is also true that we are part of the global urbanization trend that suggests that the "new kind of village" described before resembles more and more to cities.

For the first time in human history, in 2008, most of the world's population was living in urban rather than rural contexts, and rapid global urbanization means cities are the dominant environment in which we will live not only as younger people but also into later life. Cities are the symbolic and physical representation of the intersection of our cognitive, affective, and behavioural components and the highest expression of the evolution of our intelligence and social systems we have created.

This – seems an unstoppable trend – makes cities more exposed to the consequences of age-related social and demographic changes, the different stages of individual human experience and social interaction. "With more complex social composition and variation in living standards, and the greater degree of human design and initiative that their functioning requires (for example, in terms of mobility, digital environment and built environment), they have the potential to help us accelerate the understanding of not only how we mitigate, adapt, or manage changes in society but also proactively influence it and transform from passive, adaptive, assisting containers, to being active tools for our through life well-being, health - our longevity. Cities have a fundamental role and clear opportunity to suggest forward proposals rather than reactive responses to living longer, better lives, with better social circumstances and sustainable, economic growth"[2].

Benjamin Barber and others have suggested that cities could succeed in various areas of public life where nation-states have struggled to make progress.

"The challenge of democracy in the modern world has been how to join participation, which is local, with power, which is central. The nation-state once did the job, but recently, it has become too large to allow meaningful participation even as it remains too small to address centralised global power… The solution stands before us… Let cities, the most networked and interconnected of all our political associations, defined above all by collaboration and pragmatism by creativity and multi-culture, do what states cannot."[9]

Furthermore, "City and local governments are in a prime position to tackle the social determinants of health because of the breadth of their responsibilities over a defined geographical area, with powers cutting across different areas of public policy. This ability to take a place-based approach is important because of the way that health needs and outcomes are distributed spatially. In most cities, the greatest levels of need are concentrated in neighbourhoods where poverty levels are highest and social outcomes are poorest. Improving health outcomes in these areas requires multi-sectoral action and leadership from those with an overarching responsibility for place"[4]. Most of the actions taken by city governments impact the health of citizens, and most of that is not about health care per se but about transport systems, urban design, planning and all the other functions and tools that city governments have at their disposal.

It is a mistake to think of the city as a unicum. There is a central government of the city, which is what we need to strategically direct policies. Still, the city is an aggregate of villages, of communities with such specific peculiarities that they have repercussions on the health and lives of citizens. Take London, for example. The highest life expectancy for both women is in Kensington and Chelsea, with 84.1 for men and 87.9 for women. The lowest life expectancy is found in Barking and Dagenham for both men (77.0 years) and women (81.7 years). This makes it a whole seven years less than in Kensington for male residents. The next lowest was Greenwich, Newham and Lewisham. Healthy life expectancy for women ranges from 57.8 years in Tower Hamlets to 70.1 years in Wandsworth. In contrast, for men, life expectancy ranges from 58.1 years in Barking and Dagenham to 70.2 in Richmond upon Thames[5]. It is clear that while London is narrated and imagined as the city we all know for the Big Ben or Piccadilly Circus, it is also evident that it is made by so many different nuances so well described by data on healthy life expectancy.

So, in these contexts, we must develop innovation policies to combat isolation and loneliness, but with a central government that identifies a common goal, which can only be the health-adjusted life expectancy of its citizens or HALE. In the recent past, for too long, we have focused on measuring life expectancy tout-court. Still, the transition we are experiencing from an ageing society to a longevity society requires us to imagine policies and services that aim to create not only a citizenry that lives long but does so healthily. I will not dwell on why this is a crucial step, as I would like to emphasize how this must become the pivotal' policy effectiveness' objective to be shared between city departments.

Every single initiative, from a more effective sewage system to the redesign of public transport to speed limits in city centres, must always and in any case be contextualized and measured against its corresponding 'Return in Healthy Longevity'. Suppose we establish this KPI as our focus. In that case, we can not only easily understand where to prioritize our interventions (perhaps Chelsea can be placed in the queue compared to Tower Hamlet) but also more quickly understand the drivers of the reasons for such a difference. Economic and social factors (per capita income and education) underlie these macro-differences but understanding "how" and "how much" these factors, along with all the other components that impact our health, influence isolation - which, as we have said, is probably the spark from which loneliness is amplified - is what can allow us to intervene quickly.

Historically, the moral thermostat of politics is fixed on a point somewhere between duty and prudence. Unhinging this dynamic is intrinsically complex, and perhaps the only way to do so is to unlock a basic principle, namely to formally acknowledge that, as we have said, no one industry or organization will have a 'silver bullet' for this issue, and therefore to involve each actor in a hybrid model not by offloading responsibility onto one another, but by coordinating interaction with one another and developing an ecosystem opposed to the current fragmented and partial one.

By leveraging data and technology to establish an absent shared screening and detection model. Who can tell if a person is isolated? How can we distinguish whether depression is caused by loneliness rather than by other factors? Who communicates the data with whom? Who cares to act? Just the usual charities or voluntary groups in the area? And even if so, can we systematize volunteering? Can we launch campaigns to combat the stigma associated with old age and the shared celebration of independence as a symbol of a healthy and progressive society? Are we sure that it is only up to the U.N. or a ministry to run such campaigns? Wouldn't it be more effective and pervasive if brands were the ones to convey this message?

Isolation and loneliness should be tackled with the same vigour we strive for a net-zero footprint. Where everyone is involved, where everyone offers joyful communications to keep our planet habitable. Where everyone sells an opportunity with a return on their investment, which is not merely social, it is economic. The opportunity for innovation is contextualized (mostly) in cities and concerns every business sector.

The city, the enabler of innovation.

It would seem, therefore, that the city bears most of the responsibility for the solutions and that it is up to central, local, and hyperlocal public administrations to find the investments and provide the tools to implement them. At least, this is how it should be in the welfare state that we have, perhaps at one point in history, idealised in an eternal debate between hyper-liberalism and the nanny state. This is a distorted representation. As Michael Lyons says: "The local government is not an agency responsible for delivering a specific set of statutory services. Rather, it is a government unit responsible for the well-being of a community and a place, and independent of, whilst also being connected to, the wider system of government".

In other words, it is up to local (and hyper-local) governments not to deliver the solutions but to build the ecosystem in which they can be born, proliferate and resolve. A function of knowledge, promotion of evidence, prioritisation, and coordination. In an economic and social context, it is radically different from when many of the policies that are still in place today were designed. A context plagued by new forms of isolation and loneliness exacerbated by new social dynamics, digital ones above all. A context in which solutions based on the intelligent interpretation of data are no longer a possibility but the baseline on which to build solutions. This is what local authorities should do: indicate the priorities and where they are most urgent and stimulate the market to innovate. One example above all.

In 2011, Michele Vianello, Deputy Mayor of Venice, argued that "building a WIFI network in a municipality is not dissimilar to building a nursery or kindergarten"[6]. Compared to Vianello as a universal right of citizenship, Broadband access explains well which axes it can and should evolve. It is not very different from public school children's right to healthy nutrition. More data will become available if the city increasingly moves its services to digital ones. This data can then be the basis for measures and effectiveness of our interventions.

Providing broadband access will be strategic and socially essential to provide access to services and receive feedback from citizens. Tel Aviv, Barcelona, Perth, Wellington, Osaka, Tallinn, Helsinki, Milan, or Leeds, Bradford, Oxford, Manchester, Salford, York, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Newport, all cities which have been equipped with free public Wi-Fi, are excellent examples. However, a lot more can be done from an infrastructural point of view (diffusion, and – moreover, speed and signal reliability), sharing with the public (access information) and usability (ease of access).

Since the risk is what Citizens Advice in the UK found: during the first lockdown, certain groups, including people with children, disabled people, people from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds, those who were shielding and young people were particularly struggling with their broadband bill. Towards the end of 2022, an estimated 2.3 million people had fallen behind on their broadband bill, according to the charity[7]. How can we suggest access to education, information, and data if we can't grant the bare access? How can we keep people connected? How can we prevent them from being at risk of total isolation (physically and digitally)? We know it might sound against any current market logic. Still, probably – following Vianello's provocation – it is time Telco provided free broadband access to people (at least those at risk? But, who are they? Is age the only KPI?) and develop services to sustain costs using data and technology to create low-cost systems for analysing isolation risk, or developing hybrid 'town squares' with increasingly customised community-based content, resources and services that can finally intelligently bring together the physical and digital, connecting places and people.

This is the innovation that the authorities should stimulate by involving all industries. From Electronics, Consumer Goods, & Retail to Target new markets with enhanced insight into consumer behaviour and preferences, to real estate providing novel inter-generational living solutions and empathic homes, to healthcare developing active screening for early signs of loneliness with integration to social services, to travel and transportation improving mobility with self-driving vehicles, offering new experiences with VR travel libraries or more intelligent shared services, to government and business redesigning retirement concepts and create new work and volunteer opportunities, to education offering new curriculum and skills training. These are just simple suggestions which are translated already into actions by companies like Getsetup, Rendever, Volunteroo, onHands, Virtual Leap, Start-Up for Seniors, Call and Check, CHC - Create Healthy Communities, Dorot, Civic Dollars, Informetis, VOICE, Centaur Robotics to name a few of dozens exploring alternative ways to engage older people in everyday life and combat isolation and loneliness as an ecosystem instead as a laser-focused solution.

However, it is not so much the output that interests us in this context as the city's role in becoming the epicentre of an ecosystem dedicated to sharing evidence and research, acting as an integrator and facilitating both the development of new solutions and their distribution to citizens. A striking example of how this flow has been implemented egregiously is that of New York State, where the director of the Office for the Aging, Greg Olsen, leads a task force that collaborates with accelerators, start-ups, federal offices and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - whose mission is 'Turning Discovery Into Health' - to interpret citizens' needs, interests, life patterns and risk of isolation and decline.

It is enough to realise how the State of New York and the City of New York are working jointly to bring innovation into people's homes for free. The agreement with New York and ElliQ, a voice-operated care companion designed to alleviate loneliness, empower independence and support people in taking control of their social, cognitive and physical well-being, is an example of the central role of cities in fostering innovation. ElliQ, one of the few products specifically designed for older adults who are living alone or spend most of their day alone, was on the market for almost a decade and only found its profitable go to market when it signed framework agreements with the State and the City of NY which were offering the entire technology free of charge to citizens selected by precise criteria based on data from local operators.

The results? In 2023, NYSOFA issued a report[8] showing a 95% reduction in loneliness and a significant improvement in well-being among older adults using the platform. ElliQ users throughout New York have also consistently demonstrated exceptionally high levels of engagement over time, interacting with their ElliQ over 30 times daily, six days a week. More than 75% of these interactions are related to improving the older adults' social, physical and mental well-being, not to mention giving ElliQ a revenue 'pipeline' to convince other investors to invest in the company and thus give it a chance to develop more and more sophisticated technologies based on Machine Learning that will benefit more and more people. These results have allowed to serve from about a thousand homes to over twenty thousand planned in the coming months. All are funded with the New York State budget as part of a package of programmes through NYSOFA to address social isolation and provide support for caregivers.

So, will the solution to isolation and loneliness be a cognitive robot in our homes? Of course not. It will be more cohesive and inclusive communities, city neighbourhoods redesigned in the spirit of Barcelona's Superilles, more effective tools to manage volunteering, programmes to engage commuters to be part of the social fabric around their Office and not only where they reside, campaigns to promote interdependence instead of stigmatising it, solutions to learn how to recognise isolation and identify it, harnessing local touch points as catalysts for engagement and - of course - it will also be technologies capable of being there when it is unfortunately impossible to do so in person.

Involving and selecting innovation in all its forms - digital, process, financial - having the courage to experiment with it and support it, helping it to prove its effectiveness: this, too, is the role of cities and their administrators if we really want to imagine how to tackle and solve loneliness with the tools that our ingenuity makes available to us, every day.

Originally published in the “Silver Economy Meets Innovation: Aging Better, Together. Strategies and Startups to Tackle Loneliness” by AC75 Startup Accelerator.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_Walker [2]https://www.istat.it/it/files//2020/04/statisticatoday_ANZIANI.pdf [3]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827323001246 [4] Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, 2023 [5] N. Palmarini, H.Fraser, S.Zinck et alter, “Loneliness and ageing: Navigating an enduring crisis”, Institute for Business Value Press, 2017-2020 [6] N. Palmarini, H.Fraser, S.Zinck et alter, “Loneliness and ageing: Navigating an enduring crisis”, Institute for Business Value Press, 2017-2020 [7] N. Palmarini, H.Fraser, S.Zinck et alter, “Loneliness and ageing: Navigating an enduring crisis”, Institute for Business Value Press, 2017-2020 [8] N.Palmarini, L.Corner, “City of longevity: a new paradigm for cities in a longevity society”, 2023, NICA. [9] B.Barber, “Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age”, University of California Press, 2013 [10] C.Naylor, D.Buck, “The role of cities in improving population health”, the Kings Fund, 2018 [11] https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/life-expectancy-borough/ [12] https://www.michelevianello.net/wifi-gratuito-diritto-universale-cittadinan¬za/ [13] https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/more-than-one-in-six-struggling-to-afford-broadband/ [14] https://aging.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/08/nysofa-and-elliq-engagement-report-july-2023.pdf

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