Happy Christmas

Dear Friends,

We are wishing you a Christmas bright with the shining miracles of hope,

Peach and Joy.

The group of us following the programs we have in Gaza send you this Christmas greeting as due to your generosity we have been able to serve many families who have been in difficulties. This 2019 has not been easy on the people. Unemployment which has gone as high as 80 % of the population has greatly limited the parents’ ability to provide the essentials such as food, safe housing, and medical treatment for their children and sometimes the grandparents who live among them. 

Due to your donations we have been able to continue to feed over 400 children in the four pre-schools as well as provide for the classrooms needed materials to assist the education going on there. Playground toys have been repaired and over 450 winter coats have been given to these pre-school children. 

Five homes which have been in very unsafe and substandard conditions have been renovated providing families from 8 to 12 members with: doors, windows, bathrooms, kitchens and many times roofs and flooring. These families no longer are exposed to the cold, wind and the rain this winter. In the coming months donations will be arriving to continue the renovations of 4 or 5 homes.

Urgent medications for the handicapped, babies, children of all ages, parents and the senior citizens living all together have been provided for over 200 individuals.

Muslim families tell us their critical situation and know that they are helped by Christians from abroad who are aware of their political situation. This effects their economy and their wellbeing. The Christian families who are served know that they are not forgotten. 

I have seen a glimmer of hope in recent months as now 5,000 men are allowed to go to Israel to find work, and more who are ill are now allowed to cross the border for surgery or medical treatment. Pray with us that this hopeful reality will open to new economic possibilities for collaboration between the two political peoples.

May you and your families be blessed this Christmas and all through 2020! 

                                                                        Sr. Julianna, Sr. Maria

                                                                        Sr. Sandra, Sr. Susan

                                                                        Br. Lorenzo and Br. Martino

Visit December 2019

VISIT December 10 and 11 2019

Sr. Maria and I went down this month with all the suitcases we could bring. She had received wonderful vitamins for the children in the schools and we had also received new cloths for children of all sizes. 

First we visited a disabled little girl of six that had really benefited well from the medications which we have been able to provide for her. After we visited a home which was to be completed in a week’s time. The work was well done despite rains that had come the day before. Next we went to our office where five of the heads of our four schools awaited us for their monthly meeting. The meeting went real well. They brought us up on the latest events happening in each school. Each pre-school had received young professionals who had just graduated from the University and who need a job experience. They are: psychologists, social workers, physical therapists and occupational therapists. Some schools have or two and one school has four. In the Musaddar area still suffers shelling nights, so 80 of their 150 children need help with speak therapy. The trauma of the war has affected their speech. We ended with a nice meal together made by the Zahar Women’s Associations Kitchens. In the afternoon we spent discussing things in our office and at Sabah’s home I was able to use their internet to do paper work.

The second day we started out in the office and then as the bank opened we went  to the bank. After we visited two homes both of critical need of repairs. Again both homes were very wet due to the rains that they had received several days earlier. One home had three very cute boys two of whom are mentally disabled. They were home as the schools would not accept them. They are 10, 11, and 12 years old. We were able to bring them one set of new cloths. The family all live in one room on the roof of a building. Another family with a physically disabled father needed some money toward a battery for his cart which we helped with so he could get to his doctor appointments and other places.

Home renovations must slow down a bit due to the winter months. Families must find lodging elsewhere when their homes are be renovated. We hope to renovate a home a month for the months ahead.

Winter show the peoples poverty very vividly, so we went home thinking of all the families we visited.

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Visit November 2019

Visit November 18 and 19 2019

For two years we have tried to abstain for our Assistant General of the Daughters of Charity the two needed permits to visit Gaza with us. Last week shelling there had us praying that somehow it would be quiet enough to still go down this week. It happened and we had two lovely days there. We visited each day two of the nursery schools and several poor families. Two families had homes which were renovated recently and five homes were ones that need renovations before the winter rains if possible. 

In the schools the children were busy learning their numbers and letters. Healthy meals were being given in all four schools. The pictures can give you an idea of what was served. Ne school had repaired their outside playground toys. All had received their school supplies which were quickly put to good use. They all asked it the children would be getting winter coats as they received last year.

Some of the homes were really in bad shape especially two in the rural area near the Musaddar School and one in a refugee camp. They were really shacks made of pieces of wood, plastic sheeting (once used on the farms) and corrugated metal sheets. In the winter none of these families have no protection from the rain and wind. One is below the street level and the rains comes down the street and into their home.

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Visit october 2019

Visit October 23 and 24 2019

Sr. Juliana, Sr. Maria and I went to down and crossed the boarders without any difficulty this time. Sabah met us with our cards for the Gaza side which facilitated things. We began with a visit to Fawsyeh School in the north near the border. Two classes of children were busy playing using a parachute. Others were studying their numbers and one class was outside eating their meal of rice, beans and meat. It looked delicious.

After we visited four very poor families. One home was just renewed and the family were so happy and proud to have a proper living space. The father had lost a leg at the border and due to living in a dirty area he contacted gangrene and had to have the leg amputated. Now again he needs a piece of the leg removed, but needed to wait the arrival of their fourth child before having surgery. In the pictures you can see the baby who is admired by all of us. She is only a few days old, a beautiful and alert baby.

Three other homes were studied as we hope to do the renovations for two other homes before winter. These two are in bad shape and the families are large with little space for everyone.

The last day we had to leave earlier, yet still we went to the bank and met in our office to discuss our various programs. The schools all need some supplies which they will get this month. Three of the schools need to have their outdoor playground toys repaired. We decided not to use merry-go-rounds as they break down as all the playgrounds are of sand. Other types of equipment is more practical like slides and swings.

On leaving many men were also leaving as now some can get the permit to work in Israel. It’s a wonderful event as unemployment is so high, many are hungry.

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Visit September 2019

Visit September 16 and 17 2019

Sr. Frantiska had her first visit to Gaza and all went well at the boarders. I didn’t realize that my permit to the Gaza side had expired the day before. This gave us a few anxious moments until they decided to let us enter. We were to renew my papers the next day which we did. Due to the help of Fr. Mario and Ramzi we were able to leave on Wednesday a day later than we had planned on. The Missionaries of Charity were kind to let us stay another night with them. 

The first day was full as we started by visiting the Al Arabie School in the north. The children were happy and busy studying theirs forms and reviewing the names of the colors. They all received apples that day. After we went immediately to visit our second pre-school in the Jabalia area of Gaza City. Again the children were busy; this time they had a puppet show which the teachers put on for them. They have more children enrolled this year in their school of three classrooms with a fourth room as a play room.

Fr. Mario and two of his friends joined us to visit four families two of which just had their homes renovated due to the generosity of our benefactors. It was great to see the joy on the faces of these families. In the afternoon we met with Sabah and discussed the current situation with our projects there. After we went to the Missionaries of Charity for the night.

The second day after Mass we went to the bank and after to the parish to work on our paper work for our permits with the government. We headed south to the Middle camps to see our two pre-schools there and were very pleased with everything. At Hanan’s School we saw the new room which she built on the top of the schools to be a play room for the children. We had sponsored the windows and the flooring. CRS had donated many nice toys for them. In both schools the children were eating nice martadella sandwitches. We returned to Gaza City to discuss again our projects for the future months. The Italian clown Mario had been to all our pre-schools and was entertaining the children of the parish that afternoon.

After Mass and breakfast we went to the parish offices to see how our paper work was and Fr. Mario came to our aid again and we were able to leave immediately for the frontier as he was sure that he could get the problems resolved there. He and his friends were also leaving so we went together across the boarders. About 100 people were ahead of us waiting to leave so it took us about 2 hours to be processed to leave. It was a great relief to be able travel that day and not have to wait still another day.

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Visit August 2019

Lorenzo’s visit August 7^th. 2019

Lorenzo arrived by himself and Sabah and he went first to the homes being renovated. The first one was in the beach camp and this home was finished. There are photos to allow one to see the situation before the renovations and the changes made by the renovations. Lorenzo was very pleased to see the work well done.

Next they visited two more homes. These two we have studied and they are I great need of renovations. This we hope to do and have done before winter.

Many families have no money for school uniforms for children September. We will give 100 elementary age children a complete uniform. Two will be chosen from the families who are most needy.

They visited one of our pre-schools in the middle Camps and we will help put in new windows and tiles in their new room.

They went next to the Gezoor Society where they were distributing vegetables to families.

The day ended with a visit to Fr. Mario before he left for the boarder.

Our four pre-schools will open in mid-September. Registration begin August 30.

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Visit July 2019

Visit to Gaza July 16 and 17

Juliana and Sr. Susan went down together. Sabah was there to meet us at the border. With the pre-schools closed for the summer we went right away to visit some poor families. We visited four and several were in need of having their home renovated. One family’s home was of cartons and some wooden posts and it was burnt to the ground. This was done only days before. In another home the father was in the demonstrations at the border and was shot in the leg. Due to living in a hygienic situation perhaps infection and gangrene settled into the wound. This resulted in his leg needing to be amputated above the knee. This family of five live in one room on the top of his mother’s home with now water or electricity. We hope to help this family have another room, a bathroom and a kitchen. Two homes are being renovated now and one is almost finished.

The second day was the day at one pharmacy to distribute the medications to the sick. We went to observe this process and listened to many sad stories of the women who came for medications. We had to go to the bank and sat with Sabah in the office to work on future projects. Two days before we went to Gaza the five of us in the team sat together and decided not to continue giving out food as other NGOs seem to be doing more of this and that we would begin given the items they need such as wheelchairs and walkers with this funding. Sabah strongly suggested that we start micro financing projects for unemployed University students.

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Visit June 2019

Visit June 11 and 12 2019

We were so happy to go down after being absent for about six weeks from Gaza. Easter came and went and the Muslim Feast of El Fitter just finished. Sabah was in Turkey to see her children. Sr. Susan was in the US on her home visit and both are back only a few weeks. 

Sabah, Wasel and Sami the driver were all there to help us on the Gaza side as our permits were renewed. We needed to transfer money for June to Sabah’s sub account so we did that first. After we went to the office to catch up on the news. Four prominent high buildings were totally destroyed, each housed about 25 families so 100 families lost their homes. The reason was that these building housed some Jihad Islamic officials who are backed by Iran. After this a six months truce came into effect which seems to be holding.

Many international NGOs are now giving families food. The needs seem to be now items related to health: diaper, wheelchairs, medical beds, walkers, and special milk or insure for babies who have poor health, and blenders.

The Friday demonstrations are reduced now. UNERWA has deduced all their services. ENERA has left as US Aid has stopped. People have lost all trust in the government and the news as reported by the media. The regulations for the fishing is the same; they have not lengthened the miles out that the fishermen can fish as promised in the media.

We’ve been asked by a Japanese NGO to help them care for a very poor area of Gaza City which is Karima. There are 200 families in this area. We visited four houses in this area and found extreme poverty. Last month the Japanese NGO fed 100 families and we fed 100 families.

No one can swim in the sea now for some years or they contact skin diseases or hepatitis.

Our pre-schools are closed for the summer, yet our other programs continue: help the sick to obtain medicines, diapers are given to 15 individuals monthly and 100 families receive a bag of food.

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Visit March 2019

Visit March 18 and 19 2019

Three of us went down this time Lorenzo, Juliana and Sr. Susan. Sabah was still abroad regretfully yet others helped us through the boarder to get in and Sami our driver and Wasel our Social Worker guided us through the two days. We visited two of our schools the first day and saw the homes that were recently renewed. We three had seen these homes before the renovations began and were delighted to see the change. Being it was close to Mother’s Day we saw the teachers and children busy preparing a program and gifts for their mothers. Three other families two of whom have disabled members were also visited. It had just rained the day before so many homes were still wet inside due to faulty roofs, no window and etc. The pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully Sabah will be home this week. She had prepared everything before she left and all was our programs were functioning well. One family all seven needed shoes including the mother, so we were able to give Wasel money to get them all shoes, so they could go back to school. We will be able to renovate another two homes soon due to the generosity of our benefactors.

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Visit January 2019

The second visit was by Lorenzo and Sandra last week. They went for the day and visited 6 families. They saw much poverty as Sandra said they saw homes with no windows and doors and children with bare feet. They encountered the sick and one lady needed surgery in Egypt and received the permission to travel, yet didn’t have the money to go there. The Mininstry of Health pays for the operation. Lorenzo had cash with him, so he went to the bank and changed the money into sheckels so Sabah could give her the travel money.

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