By Karama | Volunteers
A short message to our dear supporters to keep you involved in the work on the field.
Worldwide the struggle against the coronavirus is not over, but optimism has grown due to the roll-out of different vaccinations. An optimism not yet shared in Palestine, as vaccinations have yet to be obtained by the authorities. People have kept strict lockdown rules during December which has brought the number of new cases down in most areas - however, in Gaza we are still hugely struggling with getting the outbreak under control. Your prayers and support are still very much needed!
In the last months of 2020 Karama was working diligently to support the households that were hit hardest with the economic consequences. A successful Cash-for-Work program continued, as well as cash and food packages distributions. So far, we have employed over 70 workers during different times, with still a few more workers joining during the coming month. These activities in Deheishe camp give workers a fair temporary salary while improving public spaces at the same time. We only employ women and men who are the income-providers for their household but lost their income due to the COVID19 crisis.
Our most recent activities also contribute to a healthy, clean environment in our beautiful camp. After painting the walls and planting trees, this month our workers distributed wheeled trash bins in Deheishe as well as smaller black trash bins. This effort will make it easier for the families to collect their household waste in a central location and an uncomplicated collection by the camp’s sanitation workers. Families in the camp are very happy about this idea, and many have requested adding a bin next to their house.
Also, an interesting effort by the team took place through a questionnaire and discussion with different beneficiaries from Karama on the impact of Corona on households in the refugee camps. Our research showed that more than 50% of the camp’s households have lost their income during the lockdown period, while almost all households (92%) are faced with less stable and unpredictable income each month since the Corona crisis started. At the same time however, three quarters of the rooftop greenhouse participants continued to work and harvest from their greenhouse, and most of them (69%) continued to benefit from the social activities and much-needed social and agricultural support either online or in-person.
For those interested we will share a report in the coming month on the impact of COVID19 on refugee camps. In the meantime, Human Rights Watch has some excellent articles on the situation of human rights under the coronavirus crisis.
Thank you sincerely for staying in touch with our work. We wish you a safe and healthy start to 2021 and welcome any feedback or messages for you.
Do not forget to connect with us on Facebook.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
