April 2012 visit in Gaza

April was a month when the gasoline and cooking fuel was very short and got even worse in the months ahead. Here are pictures of some of the lines of cars which were miles long taking people 4 to 6 hours to get gasoline for their cars. Many people had given up the use of their cars due to the price of the gasoline. More and more people used motorcycles. We took many street scenes.

February-March 2012 visit and meeting in Gaza

February 2012 - We visited the two schools in the north. Arriving at El Arabia there was dark classes due to no electricity. The hot meal was made in Fawyseh’s home and her daughter’s home as a result, as they had electricity. I took pictures of the salad and “majudra”. We asked the teachers what toys they wanted for inside toys and Al Arabia and Amjad wanted the same types of things.

January 2012 visit and meeting in Gaza

January 5th. 2012 - Joe, Thomas and I went down together and had no hitches entering until we found that Joe wasn’t on the Palestinian list in collaboration with the Latin Patriarchate, which states that we are allowed us to enter. Still he was allowed to enter that day much to our relief.

Children of Gaza greet the Patriarch - Christmas 2011

His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem visited the Latin parish in Gaza on Sunday, December 18th for an early Christmas celebration. Some children received the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion.

Mid december 2011 visit

This visit was for two days to catch up on the schools especially. I was able to visit all five schools. The children were hard at work in their workbooks given them by the government after they receive their permit. Yet I found that they had no other materials to work with. The last two years we did not have to provide these things, as two other organizations gave them in September for the entire year. Only one school had a few toys the other schools had none.

Many of the larger providers there have stopped their programs due to government controls. For me it was very hard to witness these schools working with almost nothing.

Meeting with the auxiliary bishop Msgr. Shomali

This November we had our annual meeting with the Patriarch or one of the bishops. We - br Andrea, Sr. Susan and Fr. Thomas- were delighted to have a visit and to be able to explain to our new bishop, Msgr. Somali, our ministry to the poor in Gaza. In the picture shown, regretfully Br. Joe was missing for this visit.

For some time we have not kept our friends up on our activities in Gaza. All has been progressing well. Br. Andres who is our technician has been asked by his community to study for the priesthood. We are very proud of him; he is in his second year of studies already. Recently he has found time to add our pictures and the stories with each.

The school uniform 2011

The school uniform 2011 paid by Italian benefactors.

In June at the end of the school year I write up a report of our activities for the year. We continue to feed the children one meal daily in the five pre-schools in three different regions of the Strip. In October each child has received a blood test and a physical which will be repeated after some months. We hope that this will show that their balanced meal in school will show that they are healthier. El Omri of Germany has been our sponsors for these preschools for over ten years now. They also provide for the repairs and materials needed for the schools. This September we were able to fund four of the five schools with uniforms for each child. One school already had uniforms. The uniforms are made locally which help the local industries.

Visit to Gaza September 2011

Due to generous benefactors these last two years we have moved into serving the sick. Last year we were able to assist 152 men, women and children with: medicines, various therapies, transportation cost to have surgery abroad, and orthopedic equipment. Dr. Amena has joined our group in Gaza who helps us assess who are in greater need when it comes to medical aid monthly. Her knowledge and connections there help the sick receive benefits from other medical NGOs in their region.

Pictures of latest visit in september 2011.

Musaddar classrooms

Italian benefactors, friends of Andres and Lorenzo, have been for three years now providing glasses for the poor children in our five nursery schools and for some needy adults. Some fine doctors visit the schools and volunteer their time to examine the children.

Diapers are a burden for families caring for a disabled adult or child. Monthly money to cover this expense is provided for about ten individuals.

We continue to meet monthly as a team to asses our programs and to plan for the future. We have lost Fr. Don More sj due to health issues as he had to return to the states. We miss his humor and good judgment. He was very faithful in his visits to Gaza. Don is truly missed.

Pictures of classes under construction in Musaddar.

July 2011 Visit

Pictures of our visit in july 2011