Our Ramadan food distribution program in Gaza is continuing daily this month as families come in large numbers,  enduring extreme temperatures to line up early out of fear that there will not be enough food for everyone. The punishing heat forces people to move quickly through so they can get the fresh food, like cheese and eggs, home before spoiling.   Three of the chickens didn’t make it, but as Nehaia, KinderUSA representative in Gaza, reported back, “quality control was in place at all times with spot testing being conducted throughout the distribution”. We would like to share Nehaia's observations based on her interviews with some of the beneficiaries:

Um Nabil, in her 50s, is from the Sheik Muhammad area in eastern Khan Younis, south Gaza Strip. She came to the distribution center with her youngest child, one of 9, who are in desperate need of food assistance, particularly due to the increase of prices for everything including vegetables. Just like all the children, her young son played with the live chicken while Um Nabil was busy making plans to cook and feed her family a fresh hot meal during this month of Ramadan.

A mother of 6 children with twins on the way came to the distribution with her youngest daughter, leaving her visually impaired spouse at home.  Her 6 year old daughter Aya was thrilled with the variety of food especially eggs and live chickens.  She hasn’t eaten chicken since last Ramadan! For many in Gaza, this will also be the first time to have grapes this season due to their scarcity and costs.  Grapes were once plentiful before the agricultural lands were demolished.

One mother was excited thinking of how to prepare the chicken with the children wanting grilled while she is hoping to cook it with the Moloukheya which she received with the distribution.  Moloukheya (a popular spinach-like vegetable) helps stretch the meal further. The family lives near the border area with Israel, in the north east Gaza Strip in a very humble village where the community is isolated and impoverished with reliance on donkey and cart as the only means of transportation.

Um Mohamad is in her late 40s, widowed with 4 daughters and 3 sons. They live in Deir Balah south Gaza and rely on assistance from charities and UNRWA. Very humble and welcoming of the fresh food, she boasts of her three children who received full scholarships to attend university in spite of their impoverished living conditions. This is the first time the family is a recipient of KinderUSA distribution and she thanks all who made it possible.

Many thanks to all of you who have generously supported this project during Ramadan.  Please help us make the final push to reach our goal of $250,000 so we can continue to bring hope and nourishment to families in Palestine, God-willing.

This year, Ramadan will pose a far greater challenge for the children in Gaza than at any other time over the last decade. With more than 70% of the population currently receiving humanitarian aid, the ability to feed one's family is the greatest struggle for the people of Gaza. Any change in funding from the humanitarian sector is certain to affect profoundly the well-being of the population.

Farmers continue to experience obstacles from the blockade in the form of power outages which prevent irrigation systems from operating; fewer crops can be exported and all of this has a spiraling effect on the population, especially the children.

Since the 2008-2009 war, the blockade has hindered the reconstruction of schools, leaving a shortage of approximately 250 schools in Gaza mostly due to the ban on construction materials. This past school year, students attended many classes in three shifts due to the lack of capacity, rather than the now routine two shifts a day

Gaza's children are suffering from chronic health problems which contribute to increasing rates of child mortality.  This is partly a result of contaminated drinking water and the lack of continuous supply caused by power outages due to the blockade. According to the World Health Organization, 90% of the water does not meet safety standards for drinking.

As the most densely populated place in the world (more than 4545 inhabitants per square kilometer), Gaza is under duress by a brutal blockade that restricts families from food, good health, clean water, and education.  The world stands by while children suffer from malnutrition, developing diseases caused by poor sanitation such as typhoid, for no apparent reason and with no end in sight.

"We have the opportunity to give these children a chance," said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chair of KinderUSA.  "In spite of the obstacles, we will continue to do our part and I hope that the community will continue to support these efforts throughout Ramadan and beyond."

KinderUSA is in the implementing stage of its Ramadan program working with small scale farmers and women cooperatives to bring fresh, nutritious food the neediest families throughout the month of Ramadan. We ask that you please consider a donation to this important project sending a message to the children in Gaza that as long as there is a need, we will not sit idly by and watch. Your generous support is a testament  of faith in the dignity and worth of the humanity.  Thank you.

Through the past ten years KinderUSA’s remarkable and diverse range of supporters have stayed the course, never wavering from their commitment in safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian child according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, forgoing fear to provide sustainable lifesaving projects for the children in Palestine. Yet, we continue to witness a brutal, cruel blockade on Gaza 5 years and counting that punishes infants and children.

According to a recent report by the World Bank, the blockade is the  single greatest contributor to rampant impoverishment in Gaza.  Widespread chronic malnutrition prevails resulting in anemia (58.6% in school age children, 68.1% in children 9-12 months) and protein deficiency.  Under siege, 1.7 Million people, of whom 800,000 are children, are crammed into an area about twice the size of the District of Columbia.

The World Health Organization has reported that the under-age-5 mortality rate per 1000 live births in Gaza was 29.2, two-thirds of which occurred during the first days of life (compared to a death rate of 6 per 1000 children under age 5 in Israel).  Palestinian children who do survive are forced to drink water contaminated with fertilizer and human waste as 90% of the water supply is undrinkable due to infrastructure damaged by the Israeli assault in 2009 that has yet to be repaired. The incidence of diarrhea among children 3 years old and younger, easily treated here in the US, has doubled. Typhoid fever has been reported as well.

Valarie Amos, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, recently stated that, the blockade “amounts to collective punishment of all those living in Gaza and is a denial of basic human rights and in contravention of international law.”

Yet, despite numerous statements of outrage and countless reports on the deteriorating conditions confirming that “the average Gazan today remains worse off than s/he was back in the nineties” (source World Bank), the blockade continues, children suffer, and in some instances die needlessly.  Trapped in an open air prison,  there are no safe havens for them to grow and thrive.

"Year after year, we somehow expect the situation to improve; instead conditions continue to worsen," said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, KinderUSA Board Chair.  "As a result, our humanitarian efforts continue to play a vital role for the survival of the most vulnerable segments of Palestinian society, whether in Gaza or in areas of the West Bank severely affected by restrictions on movement and economic development."

KinderUSA is unshakeable in its commitment to belief that the survival and well-being of Palestinian children is inseparably linked to peace in the region. For every child who begins his or her life marked by malnutrition, inadequate education or no schooling, and unsafe drinking water, the world moves closer to abandoning the importance of the future for us all. Reducing food insecurity will relieve some of the effects of the blockade, but we still believe that the only permanent solution is to bring an immediate end to the obstruction of life imposed by the siege.