Mrs. Najah's Kitchen - Gaza Emergency Meals

Mrs. Najah and her team are cooking meals in this time of emergency so that families in two neighborhoods in Rafah, Gaza don't go hungry. 

• Mrs. Najah Kitchen started cooking as soon as the war started, asking families to pick up meals in hope of assuring everyone's safety
  
  
• Soon she also delivered to displaced families taking refuge in one UNRWA school ... as the bombing increased, the UNRWA school committee would organize pick-up and distribution
  
  
• Mrs. Najah’s team is cooking at full capacity in her professional kitchen at the Women Programs Center-Rafah, serving 200 families a day.
  
  
• Because of the enormous need, Mrs. Najah’s team expanded their efforts and opened a second makeshift kitchen in the Tal al Sultan area of the Gaza Strip to feed 200 more families/day.
  
  
• Since the war started, Mrs. Najah has provided 2000 meals.

On October 24th, Mrs Najah wrote,
"Alhamdoullah. It is very difficult. The last nigjt until now they do not stop. The death, everywhere. The blood smell is everywhere. We want to stop war —  enough please.
Sorry but it is my feeling, we are tired."

“We’ve seen hard times but never experienced anything like this [destruction]. I have to do this because these are my people.”  — Mrs. Najah

You may wonder how Mrs. Najah is managing when no provisions crossed into Gaza during the first 3 weeks of the war. At first, Mrs. Najah Kitchen was using propane gas purchased weeks before. That ran out and they switched to fire wood. Mrs. Najah asks her whole family to find wood (downed trees, broken furniture) to keep the ovens going.

• Mrs. Najah has a long-standing partnership with a chicken farm and with grocery stores.  and is able to source the supplies. The price of chicken went down when they could no longer ship to northern cities and when families ran out of fuel.
  
  
• At first, Mrs. Najah was buying from local farms and suppliers on credit and, as always, in full accordance with U.S. laws and rules. Rebuilding Alliance promised to repay the debt when the ceasefire comes and banks reopen.
  
  
• Good news:  RA is now able to transfer grant funds. We are paying bills as soon as reports and receipts are received.

Mrs. Najah sends her thanks to all the donors who donated and enabled her to feed all these displaced people. She hopes that the world will apply International Humanitarian Law on Gaza so families can live in peace. 

We hope that a ceasefire comes soon. 

Thanks again for your support. You make this work possible.   If you want to offer words of hope and concern, please add a note when next you donate and we'll pass that to Mrs. Najah and her team. Feel free to email your questions or suggestions to us at Contact@RebuildingAlliance.org — and if you would like to host a fundraiser in your home, we'll be happy to provide a speaker!

P.S.  Before the war started...

Thanks to your amazing support, Mrs. Najah’s Kitchen raised over $20,000 during the GlobalGiving July Bonus Day. In addition, another $20,000 matching grant was provided by an anonymous donor. Those funds arrived at the end of August, and Mrs. Najah’s Kitchen resumed operations in September. They served meals to 800 families per week for over a month.

Traditionally, families in Palestine cook a special meal on Friday. Due to poverty, thousands of families cannot afford much. When the team reached these families, they saw them preparing rice, potatoes, or tomatoes. Meat is a luxury they could never afford. Meals from Mrs. Najah's Kitchen mean a lot to them. 

Families were overjoyed to see the team. One elderly woman asked the team member, "Son, why did you take so long to visit? We missed these meals for months." Receiving meals on Friday doubled their happiness. 

Rebuilding Alliance's Development Leader Abu Munzur came from the U.S. and visited the Women Programs Center in September joined by Rebuilding Alliance's Site Engineer, Heba, who lives in Gaza (but now is in refuge in Rafah). He met the Mrs. Najah's Kitchen team as they prepared nutritious meals, then helped deliver to the families living in shacks on the outskirts of Rafah. He talked with the beneficiaries and listened to their challenges. Abu Munzur could see that these meals made all the difference to these struggling families.

Links:

• Emergency: Appeal from Mrs. Najah in Rafah, Gaza