A friend of mine reached out to me on Christmas Eve, in dire need.
I’ve known her primarily through her online blogging over the years. Likewise, she was a supporter of this site for a number of years.
A few years ago, she and her dog took the brave decision to leave her country and seek safety elsewhere: this was prompted by the increasingly authoritarian government in her country, which was breathing down her neck.
I am deliberately not specifying the country here, for the same reason I’m omitting her name – because she has declined to do so on her Go Fund Me page for security reasons.
For the last couple of years corresponding with her via email, I have often praised her courage for trying to survive in foreign lands where she doesn’t know anyone: just her and her dog trying to get by in the world.
This Christmas she hit an especially desperate point in her struggle: and is in need of urgent financial assistance. I know her to be a proud and independent person, who would never ask others for help unless it was her last resort.
I also know her to be an eternal optimist, who believes in the basic goodness of people.
Another supporter of hers has now set up a Go Fund Me page on her behalf. If anyone here is able to contribute, any donation (no matter how small) would be greatly appreciated.
She also promised that anyone who does donate will receive a free copy of her book when it is published.
The Go Fund Me page is here.
I have reproduced some of her personal statement from the page here. “I am one of those people who were forced to leave their country,” she says. “Because my sense of justice is strong, I could never suppress this voice inside me. I stood by those who could not speak out against inequality and injustice for themselves. At times, I participated in protests for these people…”
“Even though I anticipated what might happen to me because of my writings. And so it happened; I was sued by my country’s authoritarian regime ruler/authorities, because of my writings…”
“I had to leave my country. I took my dog and two suitcases and left the country a year and a half ago. I have been trying to work as a freelance writer. A life spent in motel rooms, constantly having to move from one country to another. I struggled a lot with hunger, or with questions like ‘Will we have a place to stay tonight?’ I couldn’t even attend my mother funeral during this period at my home country.”
“My financial resources are almost nonexistent. I need your support so that we can at least live more healthier for the next six months. I don’t want to give up, I don’t want to be defeated…”
You can read her full statement here at the Go Fund Me page: where you can also donate any amount of money to try to help her in this difficult time.
You can also promote the fundraiser via social media, if you’re able to.
Any help, any generosity, will be greatly appreciated.
This is a real life story of one woman and her dog defying an authoritarian regime and embarking on a hopeful journey for a better life.
With enough donations, that story can continue.
Thank you. And a Happy New Year to all.
Hi,
thanks for an interesting blog.
I’m the one who set up a Go Fund Me page on our mutual friend’s behalf.
Thank you for helping!
I’ve blogged your post on my blog:
https://ivarjordre.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/a-friend-and-her-dog-in-need/
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