Food as Medicine for Palestine's PKU Kids

We’re excited to share the fantastic news with you. Our sixth shipment containing two-month supplies will be delivered on Thursday to 11 sponsored children in Gaza and many more! Since the last report, we’ve been working on many things. We’re delighted to break grounds on some new ventures, while others are still underway.

• The delay in shipment to Gaza was caused by factors beyond our control. We have been facing difficulty in placing an order for the PKU medical formula due to the worldwide shortage of medical formula. Like others, people in Palestine have been affected by this shortage. Rebuilding Alliance and Palestinian Children Relief Foundation (PCRF) are trying to fill the gap. Lately, even the Ministry has been unable to procure the formula.
• The formula provided under our last shipment expired on May 1st. Because of acute shortage, few parents started using expired formula. In the West Bank, Type 1 formula supplies finished in July.
• As a result, people in Gaza and the West Bank have been holding protests and demanding the resumption of this life-saving medical formula. Despite the assurances, the government has been unable to resume supplies.
• We’re hopeful that after the resumption of production by supplier company–Phenex, the supply line will improve significantly addressing this worldwide demand.

I’m delighted to tell you that we have aired three episodes of our cooking show called ‘PKU Mommy’s Kitchen–Palestine.’

• Under the guidance of Chef Sanabel, a PKU mum, and Dr. Nadira Daamseh, the only metabolic specialist in all of Palestine, the show educates parents on the special dietary needs of children through easy and tempting recipes such as Kentucky Fried Cauliflower and Orange Cake.
• We are in the process of filming more episodes for this season. With your generous donations, we hope to continue our show for many more seasons.

We have been raising the PKU disease and related challenges on many platforms.  

• We were able to secure a meeting with the Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Mai Alkela, along with the congressional staff in June. During our discussion, we highlighted various challenges faced by PKU families in providing care to their children such as the shortage of medical formula. The Minister promised to look into these issues and work on addressing the shortage of medical formula in Gaza. 
• We mentioned in our last report that we have been trying to become part of the UN health cluster. However, we haven't made headway yet.
• In August we also entered the MIT horizon prize aimed at finding a technological solution to a rare disease. But this didn't materialize.

We remain committed to supporting PKU children, and we know that you’re too. We appreciate the support you have extended to PKU kids. 

Please ask your circle of friends and family to join you in taking on the monthly sponsorship of a PKU child, which comes to a total of $250. If you are already sponsoring a child with a monthly donation, thank you for caring for PKU kids!

Links:

• PKU Mommy's Kitchen Episode 1
• PKU Mommy's Kitchen Episode 2