Gaza continues to suffer an ongoing humanitarian nightmare with no real vision for improvement on the horizon for the countless children and their families who live there. Three quarters of the population require some form of aid for survival, and the downward spiral affects every sector of society — from mother to child, from the farmer to the fisherman. This manmade humanitarian crisis and the insidious process of de-development of Gaza is shaped by the ongoing, illegal blockade of land, air, and sea. The end result: more than half of Gaza’s 2 million souls, including 400,000 children, live below the poverty line.
Increasing hardships find families selling their modest possessions to survive, with those who no longer have items for sale incurring debt at local stores and borrowing money from relatives and friends just to put food on the table. When even these stopgap measures prove futile, many families move in together to pool their resources, no doubt contributing to increasing levels of societal stress.
One beneficiary of KinderUSA’s recent Ramadan food distribution is Ibrahim, the head of an extended family of 12 who reside in a poorly constructed shelter of metal sheeting. Their very existence resembles a heartbreaking snapshot from a bygone era; in this age of technological wonder and abundance, just across the border from a “start-up nation”, Ibrahim and his family survive with no running water and use wood to cook their meager meals. Najlaa’, the woman of the house, reports that the family must collect the wood from the border, “which puts us at risk, but we have no choice. I don’t have a kitchen, and I don’t have a gas stove like most women in the world!”
At the close of Ramadan, KinderUSA met its goal and even extended the food distribution, providing aid to 2400 families in desperate need. What this means is that the children of Palestine we serve can count on you even in the face of a global pandemic and in times of national crisis. For these innocent children, it means that they are not forgotten by the rest of humanity.
It will take all of us working together, vigilantly, to combat the profound inequalities facing so many children across the globe. At KinderUSA, we’re grateful that you have our backs.
Thank you for your continued support, and may God continue to bless you for your compassion and generosity.
