Emergency Aid for Children in Gaza

Thank you for your support! Here is an updated write-up of how your donations are being used to provide emergency aid to children and families in Gaza.

Background

After four weeks of intensive bombing in Gaza, approximately half a million Palestinians are now displaced in Gaza. Most of these families left their homes in a panic with just the clothes on their backs. The majority of the displaced are taking shelter in UN and government schools under the care of UNRWA. However UNRWA’s resources have been depleted and they have requested assistance from MECA and other organizations in Gaza to meet the growing needs of families in schools and to prevent the spread of disease.

The near total lack of electricity, running water, and wastewater treatment pose a huge threat to the health of children and families in Gaza. The families in school shelters are receiving drinking water but are often unable to shower or wash and soap bars which some organizations gave distributed do not lather in the highly saline water that comes out of Gaza taps (when they are running at all). Our partner centers that run hospitals and clinics have reported increasing numbers of cases with skin infections, diarrhea, and lice while women are coming in with yeast infections.

MECA Response

MECA is providing grants to our long-term partners, the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip (RCS) and the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC) to buy medications to treat the sick and injured free of charge. Both run clinics and medical centers throughout Gaza and Al-Awda Hospital, run by the UHWC, is the main hospital for child births in Gaza during this crisis. RCS and UHWC send MECA the list of their needs and then use the grants to purchase medications locally in Gaza. The medications include antibiotics, rehydration bags, pain medications, topical creams, vitamins for pregnant women and children, as well as items to treat chronic diseases as many patients had to leave their medications behind as they fled. Despite the blockade on Gaza, they have been able to secure the medications they need from local pharmacies. Some pharmacies have a West Bank branch that manufactures medications and sends them to Gaza while others actually have factories operating in Gaza. In case of any shortages faced by our partners, MECA has made contacts to be able to get medications and medical supplies to Gaza within 24 hours.

At the same time, MECA’s staff in Gaza are purchasing supplies locally to distribute to families. In the beginning of the attacks, the greatest need was food and milk for children so our team distributed 400 food packages. As the attacks continued and more families were displaced, we adjusted to include some hygienic items along with children’s milk and food and distributed 678 packages to families. Now our team is focusing on hygiene kits which include: pack of diapers, pack of feminine pads, toothbrushes, family-sized toothepaste, four small towels, family-sized shampoo, extra large bath foam, hand wash, 2 packs of wet wipes, and bath sponge. We are coordinating with our organizations in Gaza in order not to duplicate efforts and are focusing on the government school shelters which are being administered by UNRWA but are less well equipped and also families that are displaced but not in these official shelters as almost no one is providing support for this population. MECA has a large network of partners in Gaza who are community-based organizations and are assisting with the distribution in their areas.

As we look towards a permanent ceasefire, MECA and our partners are also planning to relaunch a program called “Let the Children Play and Heal” which provides psychosocial support for children impacted by the violence and also trains parents, teachers, and new social workers in methods to help the children in their families and communities.