KinderUSA, with our local partner on the ground, is implementing emergency food assistance in response to the severe socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In addition to the blockade of land, sea, and air, now in its 13th year, Gaza’s population is suffering mercilessly. The gravity of the pandemic cannot be underestimated…
Lebanon: From the Ashes
Rami Khouri is an internationally-syndicated columnist, Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center, and Director of Global Engagement at AUB.
The blast that decimated large swaths of Beirut left hundreds of thousands homeless, and over 200 dead with thousands more witnessing their livelihoods in ruins. The explosion exacerbated already ravaging economic conditions for a population struggling to put food on the table. The Beirut port explosion has created a major food security emergency in Lebanon…
In case you missed our cooking demonstration with Laila El-Haddad, you can watch it on our YouTube channel. Laila cooked Okra and Lentils while discussing the intersection of food and politics in Gaza. The goal of this installment of Talks on Palestine is to raise funds for our Women Empowerment Chicken Farming program which continues to…
Tastes of Gaza: Cooking and Conversation
Laila El-Haddad is an award-winning Palestinian author and public speaker based in the United States. She frequently lectures on Gaza, the intersection of food and politics, and contemporary Islam. She is also a policy advisor with the Palestinian Policy Network.
The horrific explosion that decimated the Karatina seaport Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon has left thousands wounded and while the death toll continues to climb, the latest count is over 100. The country’s hospitals have already been stretched to the limits with COVID-19 patients, and coupled with the financial collapse, has been warning of shortages. Now,…
During Ramadan, KinderUSA provided fresh food to over 2400 families, approximately 19,000 children, women, and men who live in the most extreme conditions. One of our beneficiary family’s is Zahran, a father caring for 11 children who range in age of 3-24 years old. Though the eldest son, Ibrahim, graduated from College, he like his…
In case you missed our great conversation with Sari Bashi about freedom of movement for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, we now have it on Youtube! The goal of this installment of Talks on Palestine is to raise funds for our children’s summer project which will provide play and cultural activities to around…
With the closure of Lebanon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile library along with most projects being implemented in the region have come to a halt. Now, as daily lives suffer from the effects of the economic collapse and the shutdown, families are struggling to feed and care for their children. Our team has…
KinderUSA’s virtual Ramadan speaker series was a great success. Throughout the month of Ramadan, we had three captivating virtual conversations with Ilan Pappe, Juan Cole, and Dr. Mads Gilbert to help raise funds for Kinder’s Ramadan Programs that benefit the neediest children and their families in Gaza. If you missed any of the conversations you…
KinderUSA, with our local partner on the ground, is implementing emergency food assistance in response to the severe socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In addition to the blockade of land, sea, and air, now in its 13th year, Gaza’s population is suffering mercilessly.
The gravity of the pandemic cannot be underestimated with Coronavirus infections surging in Gaza rising from 76 confirmed cases in August with 1 death, to 2445 confirmed cases and 17 deaths this week. Movement restrictions and curfews have led to a deepening humanitarian crisis leaving many families who were already struggling to put food on their table, now without hope.
“The situation is getting worse every day. People are hungry, they have no food and cannot meet their basic needs,” said Hana, KinderUSA Country Coordinator. “There is no work and each family is doing their best to help their neighbor. It’s very desperate and sad.”
Children are living in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis on many levels including food insecurity. All schools are closed and there is limited opportunity for home study with electricity no more than 3-4 hours a day. Women, who represent 11 percent of households, make up a third of the families in extreme poverty with no means to feed their children. Salwa who lives in the north was grateful to learn she would be a beneficiary. “My parents cannot help me, they look to me for help. What are we to do? I need nothing. Only my children need food.”
KinderUSA is preparing the distribution of fresh foods including dried legumes, canned meat, eggs, and milk for children in a 20 item ‘basket’ to 600 families of 7 or more in a household. With police escorts ensuring strict contact guidelines, families in quarantine are identified and included as beneficiaries along with female headed households and the elderly.
We are appealing to all our donors to please contribute so we can reach more families. For $75 you can feed a family for one month. That is just $2.50 a day. Mahdi who is in quarantine with his family called our representative in Gaza to thank her and to make sure “the people in America know how much we thank you.”
“COVID 19 has no borders and has shown us what it means to be human, to live and die. It is critical that those of us who believe in humanity continue to work together in the spirit of solidarity. Please, join us in making a meaningful donation today,” Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, KinderUSA Chairperson.
Lebanon: From the Ashes
Rami Khouri is an internationally-syndicated columnist, Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center, and Director of Global Engagement at AUB.
The blast that decimated large swaths of Beirut left hundreds of thousands homeless, and over 200 dead with thousands more witnessing their livelihoods in ruins. The explosion exacerbated already ravaging economic conditions for a population struggling to put food on the table.
The Beirut port explosion has created a major food security emergency in Lebanon leaving extreme hardship across the population. This after months of mounting COVID19 cases, increased poverty, and rising prices leaving many with little or no purchasing power.
The bleak reality on the ground is that many Lebanese families were already skipping meals, with over 60% of the population living under the poverty line according to a World Food Program survey, some going a full day without food.
KinderUSA in partnership with MAP UK are still distributing much needed medical supplies and will provide full reporting once distribution has been completed. Understanding the emergency need for food security, KinderUSA continues to operate the Mobile Library in the south distributing food, PPE, and education to the camps and settlements. Now partnering with the Lebanese Food Bank (LFB), we are working towards enhancing their efforts to distribute fresh cooked meals to families throughout the Beirut area.
The team with the Lebanese Food Bank are preparing meals and distributing boxes of baby necessities. Just $4 will provide a meal for a family of 4 and $12 a box of baby supplies for a week which includes diapers, wipes, and powdered milk.
They are doing what they know best, along with all the local organizations and volunteers. KinderUSA is asking you to join us in expanding their coverage of families in need. Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees in the world per capita. The Lebanese have never failed to show their humanity. Join KinderUSA today in supporting the Lebanese in their hour of need.
Please donate online today, $60, $40, $20, or whatever is meaningful to you. Thank you!
In case you missed our cooking demonstration with Laila El-Haddad, you can watch it on our YouTube channel. Laila cooked Okra and Lentils while discussing the intersection of food and politics in Gaza.
The goal of this installment of Talks on Palestine is to raise funds for our Women Empowerment Chicken Farming program which continues to bring career opportunities to poor women-headed households in the Gaza Strip. A donation of $20 will provide several chicks, medicine to support the chicks, and feeders to one family. However, any amount will help provide families with the necessary supplies needed to successfully run their own chicken farming business!
Women in the chicken farming program receive 200 baby chicks to be farmed for sale on the open market. They are also provided the training and tools necessary to successfully raise the chickens and hatch eggs. During this process, the women learn indispensable information about running their own businesses and providing for their families.
During the next stage of the program, KinderUSA actually purchases some of the chickens and eggs back in order to provide the women with further income to care for their families. To ensure food security in the future, the women keep all the tools and equipment they were given so they can continue to grow their chicken farming businesses and become self-sufficient. Help us reach as many families as possible!
Tastes of Gaza: Cooking and Conversation
Laila El-Haddad is an award-winning Palestinian author and public speaker based in the United States. She frequently lectures on Gaza, the intersection of food and politics, and contemporary Islam. She is also a policy advisor with the Palestinian Policy Network.
The horrific explosion that decimated the Karatina seaport Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon has left thousands wounded and while the death toll continues to climb, the latest count is over 100. The country’s hospitals have already been stretched to the limits with COVID-19 patients, and coupled with the financial collapse, has been warning of shortages. Now, medical facilities are in dire need of disposables, PPE, trauma, and surgical intervention. In the coming days, it will become clear what more is needed.
KinderUSA is partnering with MAP UK and Palestine Red Crescent Society to support the emergency responders who are using their medical teams, ambulances, and hospitals to help treat the wounded. Immediate needs according to staff on the ground include oxygen masks, intravenous fluids, bandages, suture materials, disinfectants, and more.
Please help us to coordinate this effort to bring relief to the Lebanese people who are quick to open their doors and hearts to those in need. Make an online donation today choosing Lebanon Emergency Relief. KinderUSA will keep you updated as information unfolds. Thank you.
During Ramadan, KinderUSA provided fresh food to over 2400 families, approximately 19,000 children, women, and men who live in the most extreme conditions. One of our beneficiary family’s is Zahran, a father caring for 11 children who range in age of 3-24 years old.
Though the eldest son, Ibrahim, graduated from College, he like his father and over 45% of the population in Gaza, women over 66%, are unemployed.
The family lives in a 3 room ‘house’ covered in metal sheeting in one of the most vulnerable and marginalized areas of Rafah where there is no infrastructure or functioning sewage network. Dangerously close to the border, Zahran worries daily for his children playing outside for fear of becoming a target.
Unable to feed his family, Zahran worked the fields in agriculture in exchange for food, but he lost this job when Coronavirus impacted the area, closing most of the economy. He now survives on $40 a month of food aid along with modest funds from the Social Development ministry.
“I do my best to provide for my children, especially buying diapers which cost $50 per month, that requires a special budget but, I feel helpless because I have no incomes. The food for Ramadan allowed me to provide healthy food for my children and not borrow money for one month.”
Zahran has expressed his gratitude but looks to the future and how they will manage. “God willing, we will find work soon. For now, thank you to all who keep us in their prayers.”
KinderUSA wishes all our donors a peaceful, happy, Eid al Adha and that you are rewarded for the sacrifices you have made and continue to make along with the good deeds you do for the children and families we serve. Eid Mubarak!
In case you missed our great conversation with Sari Bashi about freedom of movement for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, we now have it on Youtube!
The goal of this installment of Talks on Palestine is to raise funds for our children’s summer project which will provide play and cultural activities to around 1400 children throughout 7 areas of Gaza. Please consider donating, $20 will support a child for the whole program and $10 will support them for one month. Your donation, no matter how big or small makes a difference in the lives of the children of Palestine!
During the summer program, children will participate in soccer, basketball, Debkeh, mural painting, writing, poetry, and more! The program also brings in 10 members of the youth to implement and coordinate the activities providing them with a small stipend. Our team is taking all the necessary precautions to ensure proper safety procedures are being implemented and taking this opportunity to teach the children about safe hygiene in the time of the coronavirus.
Help us reach as many children as possible! As always, we value your support and consistent dedication to the children of Palestine!
With the closure of Lebanon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile library along with most projects being implemented in the region have come to a halt. Now, as daily lives suffer from the effects of the economic collapse and the shutdown, families are struggling to feed and care for their children.
Our team has regrouped and the mobile library will be back on the road distributing food, PPE, and storytelling for Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian children in the Bekaa and Tyr areas. The team will purchase food based upon what is available locally, providing sandwiches or za’atar bread with a beverage, to distribute to the children, encouraging them to attend.
Activities will be held outdoors, weather permitted, or in large open spaces to ensure social distancing, taking every precaution. You can further our activities with a donation of $10, $20, $50, or whatever you can give.
These are unprecedented times for all of us hitting vulnerable children the hardest. Your support will help protect children with proper hygiene supplies, nourish them with local food while keeping them active through learning.
All of us at KinderUSA remain convinced that our shared humanity and commitment to one another will continue to put children’s needs first. Thank you.
KinderUSA’s virtual Ramadan speaker series was a great success. Throughout the month of Ramadan, we had three captivating virtual conversations with Ilan Pappe, Juan Cole, and Dr. Mads Gilbert to help raise funds for Kinder’s Ramadan Programs that benefit the neediest children and their families in Gaza. If you missed any of the conversations you can view them on our YouTube Page.
Be sure to tune in for the start of our new live conversation series, Talks on Palestine, as we kick off with Huwaida Arraf, Saturday, June 27th at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.
While the event is free, registration is required.
We envision a free, just and peaceful Palestine where children thrive and look forward to a productive future, like children everywhere.
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