Visit in Gaza april 10th, 2013

April 10th found Lorenzo and I back in Gaza. Visits to two nursery schools were very encouraging. The children were getting a hot meal. In one school they had rice and meat and in another school they had rice and beans. The children know most of their numbers and their letters. This is where they should be in their preparation for the end of the school year for the five year olds to go on next fall to first grade. In the El Amal school we found that they have one class of Day Care for little ones from six months old to a year and a half. This room needs beds for the 6 children and stimulating toys. These we will try to provide for them in the coming months. This room will be open all summer to serve working mothers.

Bathroom

We continued on to visit one home that had the only door replaced with a solid and secure door. Luckily the engineer was present and we discussed how to repair the bathroom where the water tanks were installed on the roof. It will need a cement roof to support the weight of the water tanks. To save some money some items can be replaced by used item which are in good condition. We returned grateful for seeing progress in several areas.

 

Water tanks above the bathroom

 

 

New door outside and inside

 

Some hard realities are: gasoline is very expensive, fruit is costly, and UNERWA has cut off funding some very poor families and has stopped their distribution of food. Hopefully this will be temporary. The local foods grown in Gaza are vegetables, oranges, and dates. Most of the rest of the food comes in from Israel which is very costly or by the tunnels which is less costly.

Sister Susan