Gaza: Our Duty, Our Children Join us for an event that is sure to both educate and engage guests, informing them of the people and communities we are serving during the month of Ramadan. In the exotic ambience of Phoenicia Restaurant in Glendale California, keynote speaker, Dr. Saree Makdisi will discuss the plight of the…
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating on all levels in a downward spiral demanding immediate intervention to prevent a total collapse.
There is a continued sense of despair with 80% of the population relying on aid to survive. Electricity, for those fortunate enough to have it, runs about 5-6 hours a day disrupting basic services to hospitals, health clinics, sewage and water treatment facilities. Three hospitals and ten medical centers have already suspended services due to lack of fuel impacting 300,000 people. According to the World Bank, “access to improved drinking water sources in Gaza declined to one of the worst in the world today”, further reporting that “96% of the water is not suitable for human consumption”.
The blockade on Gaza, now in its 11th year, prevents people and goods from moving, leaving the population isolated and trapped. In 2017, 54 Gazan’s died awaiting ‘permission’ to receive vital treatment outside.
Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. Nearly 12,000 families remain internally displaced since the war in 2014, many of whom are still living in tents. Eighty percent of the 1.9 million people are living on humanitarian aid, without which they could not meet their basic needs. Suicide rates are at an all-time high, and divorce, once…
Once again, the blessed month of Ramadan is upon us, and we at KinderUSA would like to wish you and your families Ramadan Mubarak! KinderUSA’s Ramadan Farmers Food Project is now in its 12th year delivering fresh vegetables, fruit, live poultry and freshly prepared dairy products reaching over 2500 families consisting of 8-13 family members.…
Gaza residents have had their daily electricity usage reduced further after the only power station in Gaza stopped operating. Official reports of reductions from eight hours a day to just six, jeopardizes every aspect of life in Gaza. Water and sanitation services have been severely affected with many households experiencing reduced flow or no water…
The fallout from the 2014 war in Gaza continues to have a devastating effect on the lives of the Palestinian people. Families are spending over half their income on just the necessities to live, and those are the ones who have income. One in 2 people are considered food insecure . With over 50% of…
Ashraf is a young boy suffering from chronic malnutrition which affects a third of Gaza’s children, according to UNICEF. In April, he and his mother, residents of Beach Camp (also known as Al-Shati), visited the KinderUSA funded program implemented by our partner Ard El Insan (AEI) which is designed to address chronic malnutrition among children…
With the closure of neighboring borders, tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in Greece, including over 1900 unaccompanied minors. Many of these refugees escaped war after losing siblings, parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, homes, and their livelihoods. Many have followed family members who have already secured asylum in other countries away from the daily bombings,…
Even as recent events – from the horrific war in Syria to the traumatic flight of migrants to Europe – shine a spotlight on the plight of the world’s children, the forgotten children of Palestine continue to suffer from a denial of basic human rights. For these children, the daily struggle for food, shelter, education,…
The longer someone goes without food the hungrier they become. The same can be said of someone who goes without work. They are denied their very basic needs; food, shelter, protection, stability, and freedom from fear. Unfortunately, this is all too common in Gaza. The effects of the blockade have led to a consistent decline…
Gaza: Our Duty, Our Children
Join us for an event that is sure to both educate and engage guests, informing them of the people and communities we are serving during the month of Ramadan. In the exotic ambience of Phoenicia Restaurant in Glendale California, keynote speaker, Dr. Saree Makdisi will discuss the plight of the Palestinian children in Gaza and the events that continue to make it unlivable for any human being along with the stunning level of international indifference. Please take a moment to read here Dr. Makdisi’s recent op-ed in the LA times challenging the media and others to tell the truth about Gaza. You will not want to miss his much-anticipated presentation.
In the spirit of Ramadan, our program will also feature Salam Al-Marayati, President of the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Jihad Turk, President of the Bayan Institute at Claremont College. Throughout the evening, you will have opportunities to purchase items from Palestine and make donations supporting our work through the month of Ramadan.
At a time when it is imperative to show our support for the children in Palestine, you are encouraged to attend. Buy your tickets now here, or at the door where ticket prices for Adults, Students, and Children are $75, $55, and $25. We all look forward to seeing you there!
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating on all levels in a downward spiral demanding immediate intervention to prevent a total collapse.
There is a continued sense of despair with 80% of the population relying on aid to survive. Electricity, for those fortunate enough to have it, runs about 5-6 hours a day disrupting basic services to hospitals, health clinics, sewage and water treatment facilities. Three hospitals and ten medical centers have already suspended services due to lack of fuel impacting 300,000 people. According to the World Bank, “access to improved drinking water sources in Gaza declined to one of the worst in the world today”, further reporting that “96% of the water is not suitable for human consumption”.
The blockade on Gaza, now in its 11th year, prevents people and goods from moving, leaving the population isolated and trapped. In 2017, 54 Gazan’s died awaiting ‘permission’ to receive vital treatment outside.
Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. Nearly 12,000 families remain internally displaced since the war in 2014, many of whom are still living in tents. Eighty percent of the 1.9 million people are living on humanitarian aid, without which they could not meet their basic needs. Suicide rates are at an all-time high, and divorce, once only affecting 2 percent of marriages has skyrocketed to 40 percent, reflecting the increasing stress on Palestinian families.
In April, Gaza’s sole electricity plant ceased to operate and the ripple effects are still being felt. This on top of a fuel crisis that has led to blackouts lasting up to 21 hours imposed due to lack of payment.
According to the World Health Organization, without fuel to run generators, surgical and obstetric operating rooms, neonatal intensive care units and hospital emergency departments will be incapacitated.
Every aspect of life is affected by this fuel catastrophe including sanitation, clean drinking water, and general hygiene. We must not forget that the cruel siege is now entering its 11th year, leaving Gaza in a state of paralysis.
The political division between the governing parties in the West Bank and Gaza creates an environment that neglects the very people both parties profess to represent. Gazans are preoccupied with securing their next meal, finding work, and for those fortunate enough to have electricity, wondering how long it will last.
Beyond Ramadan, our work continues but only with your continued support. “We are worried that the people of Gaza will soon reach the limit of what they can tolerate,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati. “They have amazing faith and resilience but there is only so much that families can take.” With our focus on basic needs and economic sustainability, we pray that they will maintain the hope needed to survive and thrive. Please make an online donation today to help a people who only want to help themselves.
Once again, the blessed month of Ramadan is upon us, and we at KinderUSA would like to wish you and your families Ramadan Mubarak!
KinderUSA’s Ramadan Farmers Food Project is now in its 12th year delivering fresh vegetables, fruit, live poultry and freshly prepared dairy products reaching over 2500 families consisting of 8-13 family members. In Gaza, over 80% of the population rely on aid to meet their daily needs. Food is available in markets, however, the many families we serve are unemployed, and many more are female heads of household doing their best to provide for their children.
In Gaza, our partnership continues with Beit Lahia Development Association distributing working with small scaled farmers providing reshly grown vegetables include tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, molokhia, eggplant, squash, and carrots, with chicken famers providing 8 live birds to each family along with flats of eggs. Women cooperatives are providing freshly prepared cheese, jam, maftoul, zataar and doqqa.
Our project is much greater this year as the need continues to grow. For a cost of just $125 per family, we are able to increase food security, provide healthful food options during Ramadan, and perhaps, most importantly, increase families’ happiness and joy 
during this month of fasting and prayer. Advancing their dignity and that of their families has been the foundation of our work since our launch in 2002 and is ever more prevalent during the month of Ramadan.
Please consider a donation of during the month of Ramadan while also supporting indigent farmers and women cooperatives. A donation of $1000 will provide enough food for 8 needy Palestinian families.
Our work is only possible with you continued support. Thank you for sharing our compassion for the children in Palestine and beyond!
Gaza residents have had their daily electricity usage reduced further after the only power station in Gaza stopped operating. Official reports of reductions from eight hours a day to just six, jeopardizes every aspect of life in Gaza.
Water and sanitation services have been severely affected with many households experiencing reduced flow or no water at all. Hospitals are being forced to significantly reduce essential services, relying on backup generators which will come to a close if funding for fuel is not secured immediately
Approaching Ramadan, our signature Farmers and Women Cooperative program, is being affected just as all aspects of life. “We really only have 4 hours of electricity a day”, according to Hana KinderUSA Country Coordinator. “
Gazan residents are caught in the middle of an ongoing “dispute” between the Palestinian authorities in Gaza and Ramallah in addition to the effects of numerous wars and the ongoing blockade. With Ramadan around the corner, our Farmers are struggling to meet the demand of a population – over 80% – reliant on aid. With the power outages, the irrigation system cannot function properly and crops will be lost.
Most of our beneficiaries lost their homes and their livelihoods during Ramadan 2014. There is a profound sense of frustration and hopelessness throughout Gaza where unemployment is the highest in the world and now they sit once again in darkness. Without a political solution, humanitarian aid is simply drip feeding the population.
We are witnessing so many tragedies across the globe, and are humbled by your continued support of children and their families who rely on us to help them survive in Gaza.
“Your support at this critical time will help sustain children throughout Ramadan and beyond,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, KinderUSA chairperson. Please help us help them and reach our Ramadan goal of raising $250,000 that will go directly to needy families.”
The fallout from the 2014 war in Gaza continues to have a devastating effect on the lives of the Palestinian people. Families are spending over half their income on just the necessities to live, and those are the ones who have income. One in 2 people are considered food insecure . With over 50% of the population food insecure, and 80% receiving aid, hunger remains a daily challenge for parents who do their best to provide just one meal a day for their children.
The idea that for every 1000 babies born in Gaza, 28 die from malnutrition is simply unconscionable .
For 5 year-old Yamen, life continues to inflict obstacles. His parents, unable to provide for him, left him in the care of his ailing grandmother who lives in a tin home with sand as a floor. On numerous occasions, Yamen has rebelled both in school and at home, longing to be with his parents. Sadly, he is often found sitting in the middle of the road, tearfully despondent.
Due to his severe financial status, he has been admitted into Kindergarten with the nominal yearly fee of $10 waived so he can enjoy some structure and stability in his life. Teachers have worked closely with Yamen, though as they note, “he is but one of many we see in our classes.” Some of the symptoms of malnutrition displayed by Yamen include listlessness and aching bones. But since he started kindergarten in January where he receives hot meals provided by KinderUSA, he complains less and is more involved and motivated.
“There are some things that we cannot change,” said KinderUSA Board Chair, Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, “but we can make a difference in the daily lives of children like Yamen so they are given a chance to thrive. His case shows how vital this program is to the basic survival of the most vulnerable in Gaza.”
For Yamen and children like him, food aid amounts to their lifeline. The nutritional meals program is not possible without your continued support. We can never underestimate the role we play in the lives of these children.
Ashraf is a young boy suffering from chronic malnutrition which affects a third of Gaza’s children, according to UNICEF. In April, he and his mother, residents of Beach Camp (also known as Al-Shati), visited the KinderUSA funded program implemented by our partner Ard El Insan (AEI) which is designed to address chronic malnutrition among children in Gaza. Ashraf is one of 2,400 children, newborns to age 5, who have been screened as part of the project, and one of 421 children admitted to the AEI clinic for nutritional and medical treatment.
Al-Shati, located along the Mediterranean coastline in Gaza, is the third largest refugee camp in the Palestinian territories and one of the poorest. After repeated conflicts and a blockade approaching its 10th year, the diet of Palestinians in Gaza lacks the variety and nutritional components needed.
Once children are diagnosed, they are treated with high nutrient biscuits and plumpy nut which is fortified with vitamins and micronutrients to reduce malnutrition. Mothers participate in health, nutrition, and cooking classes to change eating habits, making choices with what’s available within their budgets. Follow up visits are then conducted at the homes of these families.
Ashraf enjoyed the high nutrient biscuits and plumpy’nut, a peanut paste developed for severe and chronically malnourished children, since they are both nutritious and tasty. His mother participated in health education sessions to modify eating habits within the household.
“Ashraf was a model patient. He quickly improved from the treatment and his mother changed his eating habits and food choices,” said Dr. Adan Executive Director of AEI.
Ashraf’s mother has, “learned about managing the money we have for foods, healthy and cheap food options, and ways of cooking that keep the most nutritional value. We are happy with the significant recovery rate that my son has achieved and thank you for helping to protect my child’s health.”
“Chronic malnutrition affects every aspect of a child’s life, from growth to education. Without an end to the blockade the number of children affected will only increase,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati Chairperson KinderUSA.
This is a 2 year program that has just begun. We need your help to reach more families and children who can benefit from the work of our partner, Ard el Insan, a leader in promoting the health of Palestinian children. Please consider making a donation today!
With the closure of neighboring borders, tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in Greece, including over 1900 unaccompanied minors. Many of these refugees escaped war after losing siblings, parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, homes, and their livelihoods. Many have followed family members who have already secured asylum in other countries away from the daily bombings, lack of food and water, and fear for life in general.
Nothing is more difficult than lingering all day with little else to do than waking up. Working with Humanity Crew, a Palestinian NGO with Arabic-speaking staff, KinderUSA sponsored a day of joy this Eid ul Fitr.
Board member, Lamis El Farra, visited Divata camp near Thessaloniki, Greece to witness the impact of KinderUSA’s Eid ul Fitr gift program supported by your donations. Distributing reusable bags filled with paints, drawing materials, and toys to 1,000 children at a cost of US $20,000, Lamis reported back that your donations provided a ray of light in the lives of these children. We share her journey with you here:
“Greece is struggling. Thessaloniki had a lot of closed storefronts, graffiti and crumbling infrastructure. Yet the Greeks we spoke with were unanimous that those in need could not be turned away, saying; “It’s humanity.”
Diavata camp where the distribution took place is a former military installation with various office buildings for the camp administration and coordinating non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Hope is in short supply amongst the camp population as there is much uncertainty among the residents about their fates. One can imagine that camp life gets monotonous and frustrating, exacerbated by lack of privacy and perspective. Most basic needs are met (there is also a health clinic) and our partner, Humanity Crew, has started a school.
One resident is Abu Shawkat, originally from Tiberias/Galilee, who has led a nomadic life, with time spent in Libya, Yemen, Gaza, Tunis, and Syria, which was his last home before ending up in Diavata Camp. He lost his wife in Syria when their house was bombed. Two of his children are now in Sweden, lost in the hustle and confusion of boarding their rafts to Greece. The family was forced by the smugglers on to different boats and Abu Shawkat’s boat was stopped by border patrol while the raft carrying his children continued.
There was a young woman in a nearby tent who was overcome by seizures that doctors have not been able to diagnose. She was prostrate on the ground with two people holding her as they tried to calm her as her body twitched. The eldest of her two sons was about three years old and began to cry as he witnessed his mother’s distress. Her seizures are worse and occur more frequently now. Her husband is in Germany and is trying to come to Greece, but like so many others, their future is uncertain.
In addition to the Eid gifts, we (KinderUSA) arranged to provide baklawa for the entire camp, prepared and delivered by a local bakery, Chatzis (the best baklawa in Greece!). People lined up outside the tent to enjoy the warm baklawa, a treat beyond the food distributed by the camps administration. Two young men from the camp helped serve the baklawa to the beneficiaries, one cutting and plating, the other, Afiz from Afghanistan, checking the number of pieces per household.
Thank you to all who contributed to make this event possible!
Even as recent events – from the horrific war in Syria to the traumatic flight of migrants to Europe – shine a spotlight on the plight of the world’s children, the forgotten children of Palestine continue to suffer from a denial of basic human rights. For these children, the daily struggle for food, shelter, education, and medical care serve as a grim reminder that the basic rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child remain as elusive as ever.
In the West Bank, the number of residential structures demolished by occupation authorities grew by 265% in 2016, severely impacting the safety and wellbeing of numerous children and their families.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the cumulative effect of 3 major wars in 6 years and the crippling blockade have left the civilian population in dire straits. Hundreds of children were killed during the most recent Israeli incursion in 2014, and more than 13,000 families remain displaced, living in makeshift shelters and rubble.Mohamed Ibn Chambas, speaking for the Secretary-General 03 May 2016 stated, “The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains of grave concern. All efforts should concentrate on helping the population in Gaza, still suffering from the consequences of the 2014 conflict: 74 per cent of affected families still await the reconstruction of their homes. Gaza’s chronic energy, water and employment needs also require urgent and sustained attention.”
Next month, we begin the largest Ramadan initiative in the history of KinderUSA for one reason – the need today is greater than it has even been since our inception as an NGO. Our Farmers and Women Cooperative project will cover areas most affected by demolitions, blockades, and the needs of these innocent children. Fresh food, live poultry, dairy products and more will immediately feed children and their families during the month of Ramadan.
Please consider making a donation today to help support our efforts to bring sustenance to children and their families in Palestine. Thank you.
KinderUSA is a 501 ( c ) 3 tax-exempt organization. EIN: 75-2999028
If you are in southern California, don’t miss our upcoming annual event in Glendale with Dr. Ramzy Baroud: https://www.facebook.com/events/1019948171417152/
The longer someone goes without food the hungrier they become. The same can be said of someone who goes without work. They are denied their very basic needs; food, shelter, protection, stability, and freedom from fear. Unfortunately, this is all too common in Gaza. The effects of the blockade have led to a consistent decline in the socioeconomic conditions of the population in Gaza creating underdevelopment, severe poverty, and unemployment rates the highest in the world according to the World Bank. Young teenagers are forced to leave school prematurely in order to find work and help support their families.
Understanding everything from the basic needs to the complex issues facing Gazans is integral to reconstructing hope for these communities. KinderUSA is in its second year working with our partner, Tamer Institute for Community Education. The project works directly with a network of community libraries and parents to provide a safe, free environment for children and young adults to protect them from the political, social, and economic circumstances that surround their daily existence. While the library offers knowledge, perhaps more importantly, it opens the door to a wide world through books to alleviate stress, enable coping with traumatic experiences, and foster well-being.
The work that Tamer Institute is doing with KinderUSA allows for creative expression to bring together similar ideas and values through art while encouraging mother and child to work together reestablishing relationships. It’s our goal to promote learning, literacy, and psycho-social well-being for the child, and assist in the underlying depression of the parents, through storytelling, reading, writing and expressive arts. By engaging both children and parents in this process, it is our hope that families will understand the importance of encouraging their children to remain in school as higher educational attainment provides a better future of all.
“Engaging families in creative art and literacy promotion will promote a healthy approach to overcoming the challenges faced by the people of Gaza,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Board Chair.
Please join us in helping children to flourish and allow them and their families a chance to heal. The project supports five public libraries across Gaza that serve 1,900 children and youth as well as 400 caregivers and goes through the summer.
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