In this deeply moving episode, host Lucy Hutchings Hunt speaks with Laila Ezzat Al Shana — a 23-year-old poet, mother, and founder of Humans To Be, a grassroots project bringing joy and healing to children in Gaza.
Laila shares her personal story of raising two young children amidst bombardment and displacement, and how poetry became her way to resist silence and keep hope alive. She speaks about carrying her babies through the rubble of her shelled home, finding strength in a single tree outside her window, and her mission to create spaces where Gaza’s children can laugh and simply be children again.
This conversation is raw, honest, and profoundly human — a meeting of two mothers and poets, divided by geography but united by love, words, and the belief that even in devastation, hope can bloom.
🎧 Listen now and help amplify Laila’s voice.
Guest Overview
Name: Laila Ezzat Al Shana
Roles: Poet, Mother, Founder of Humans To Be
Location: Gaza
Socials:
@lailaezzatalshana
@lailaezzatalshana2
@humanstobe
Transcript below:
Lucy:
Laila, thank you for joining me. I’m sure you’ve got many important things you could be doing, so I’m really grateful you’re here talking to me.
Laila:
I’m grateful too. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to the world.
Lucy:
It’s my privilege. I wanted to record what’s going on in your world so my listeners can hear directly from Gaza. I’m particularly drawn to your story because, like me, you’re a mother, a poet, and someone who cares deeply about your community. Could you share a little of who you are and what shaped you as a poet, a mother, and a community leader?
Laila:
I’m 23 years old. I married at 18 and became a mother at 19, continuing my university studies even while pregnant. I stopped during the genocide, but I’ve now re-registered. For me, resistance is continuing with life. I fight with words and my voice because the world must listen—because we are human like them.
I have two children, Ismail, almost four, and Ibrahim, nearly one. I raised my second baby during the genocide. It was so hard—bombardments, displacements, evacuation orders. My husband is disabled and can’t carry our sons, so all the burden fell on me. A week after giving birth, our home was shelled three times while I was inside with the babies. Miraculously, we survived.
Lucy:
Where are you now?
Laila:
In what’s left of my destroyed home, at Bridge Camp. Everywhere is destruction. But even here I find hope—a tree outside my window reminds me to dream of life.
Lucy:
I saw you post about two boys you knew who were killed trying to get food.
Laila:
Yes, they were my cousins. Soldiers shot them at an aid distribution center. One was deaf. Their younger brother, just 13, saw them murdered. He told me he picked up his brother’s brain from the ground and put it back inside his head. That scene will never leave him.
Lucy:
Tell me about the hospitals.
Laila:
Overcrowded, no beds, no supplies. I saw martyrs wrapped in plastic bags, injured people lying on the ground. Israel has destroyed everything—starving us, denying medical aid, turning Gaza into a prison.
Lucy:
It’s hard to know what to do. How can we support you?
Laila:
Through my project, Humans To Be. I started it for children, because I feel their pain. More than 50,000 here are orphans. I try to give them food, clothes, hugs, stories—moments to smile. It’s small now, but I dream of building it into an organization that helps thousands. Our children deserve joy like any child in the world.
Lucy:
It’s amazing what you’re doing, Laila. Thank you for sharing your story.
Laila:
Thank you for giving me this chance. Please don’t let the world be silent. Every second we lose more children, more mothers, more fathers. People must raise their voices and stop the genocide.
