Aid for Children and Families in Gaza

MECA staff and partners have been hard at work providing aid to children and families in Gaza. Our aid work meets some of the most urgent needs of children in Gaza who are facing food insecurity and malnutrition due to rising unemployment rates after decades of occupation and more than 15 years under a tighening siege.

In April, May, August, and November, we did distributions of food parcels reaching 4,600 families in Gaza. These food parcels provide nutricious local foods while also supporting small farmers and businesses that produce foods. Each food parcel is designed to provide healthy meals for a family for 2-3 weeks. 

In August, as children returned to schools, MECA provided new backpacks filled with school supplies to 2,690 children. The backpacks were made in a local factory which employees 20 women who are the sole breadwinners for their families. This project prepares children for a successful school year by ensuring they have all the materials they need to study and learn. 

As I write, winter is just starting and already the streets of Gaza flooded with the first heavy rain. We are working now to distribute warm clothes and new shoes for children and to provide house shields - a kit of insulated material to cover the roof of homes- to families with leaky roofs to ensure their home stays dry and warmer during the winter months. The house shields are reuasable and will last for several years. 

Munir, 10, is a student in Nuseirat Refugee Camp who hopes to become an engineer. He received a backpack from MECA this year and his father told us "My son is very happy today that he got a new school bag. He used to go with an old bag that was falling apart. Today, he feels very happy and energetic." 

Thanks to your generous donations to MECA, nearly 1500 Palestinian children in Gaza received warm winter bundles with jackets, jeans, thermals, shoes, socks, and thick blankets.

This has been a particularly harsh winter with heavy rains causing flooding in Gaza. Your donations helped ensure children were safe and warm.

Our annual winter relief campaign sources most items from local factories in Gaza and so provided employment to approximately 40 people in Gaza which means an income for 40 families at a time when unemployment is on the rise due to the ongoing Israeli occupation and siege as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out the video of the first distribution in November to see how your donations were put to use: https://youtu.be/EqSxgvZmx1c

Many thanks for your support!

Links:

• Watch the video