It was early morning when I first read Sara Awad’s opinion piece, ‘In Gaza City, we are saying goodbye’. I lay still in my bed, moved to tears — as if she had posted a letter straight to my heart.

Creativity and making are my tools for processing pain, so I picked up a pencil and copied her piece, word-for-word, onto a sheet of paper. The next day, I reached out to Sara and asked her permission to share her story as a physical object.

The impermanence of pencil, translucent airmail paper, the ritual acts of writing, sending her words through the post, the hands those letters pass through — these elements draw her story and the Palestinian experience into our physical space. And a creative act becomes an act of hope.

My hope is that this letter brings Sara and her experience to life for those who receive it, as you touch her words and hold her in your hands. I hope that you will pass her story on to others. And I hope that Sara’s courage inspires each of us to use our voices to end the genocide and ensure peace and dignity for all Palestinians.

To read Sara Awad’s letter as it was published online, go to: “In Gaza City, we are saying goodbye” at www.aljazeera.com.