Najwa was born in Zahle, Lebanon in 1958. She is the second of five children. She was married at 16 to a man 25 years older than her. After only one year, he developed a heart condition. For several years he was in and out of the hospital. After his recovery, they gave birth to a daughter in 1981 and a son in 1983. To support her family, she worked as a seamstress. Her husband died in 2007. For the past 15 years, she has suffered from kidney problems and has been on dialysis twice a week. Despite her illness, she continues to work in a clinic. We have been helping her with food since the fall of 2020.