ACT members distribute food to families affected by the war in the Gaza Strip. Photo by Omar Almajdalawi/DCA-ACT International. Although a pullout from the Gaza Strip has been completed there is an ever-increasing need for more aid and humanitarian workers. In one survey, CARE reports that 89 percent of respondents said they have not received any assistance since the conflict started on December 27, 2008.
PDA Response
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is supporting relief efforts as a member of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International alliance. ACT efforts include those of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)'s Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR), International Orthodox Christian Charities and other long-time PC(USA) partners. A revised appeal for $5.4 million has been issued for emergency assistance and rehabilitation in Gaza and to smaller part in the West Bank.
The PDA-supported efforts have included provision of food — including high-energy biscuits for children — medicine and blankets, as well as the deployment of trauma counselors.
Specific Response
PDA-supported assistance delivered through ACT partners include:
Food and non-food items
- International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and the East Jerusalem Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) have delivered fortified milk to more than 18,000 people, nutritional biscuits to 23,000 people and other food supplies to 2,240 persons. IOCC and YMCA have also distributed 220 single kilts, 1,000 blankets and 1,680 hygiene kits.
- DanChurchAid (DCA) has delivered fuel for the Gaza National Blood Bank and food aid including hot meals for approximately 1,500 persons, vegetable baskets to approximately 7,000 people, canned food baskets to approximately 5,000 people and 9,000 kilos of powdered milk.
Medical assistance and psychosocial care
- Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) has delivered medicines, supplies and fresh bedding to its clinics and is awaiting the delivery of 100,000 bottles of water along with nutritional biscuits.
- DSPR staff members are planning to rent a new building to re-establish its destroyed clinic in the Shaja'ih area of Gaza City.
- ACT members are working together to begin psychosocial assistance through international staff and local partners. DSPR is working in partnership with a local mental health community center in Gaza and are coordinating with UNICEF for a psychosocial intervention. IOCC and YMCA are working through three youth centers.
- Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) has distributed hot meals, food supplies, medical supplies and blankets to the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.
Mission Minute Update
Little by little, the long-term effects of the three-week war are emerging among the population of Gaza. PDA and ACT-supported medical workers report that people intuitively still look at the sky for planes every time they leave their homes, and then once on the street people are scared by loud voices or the sudden moves of others.
"Everybody is traumatized in one way or another," says Dr. Suhail Madbak, Dean of the medical school at Al Azhar University in Gaza. [Read more]
What you can do
You can help the church in this response:
- Through your prayers.
- Through your generosity. Your contributions provide the resources needed to assist with immediate and long-term recovery needs.
Individuals may give through their local Presbyterian congregation, on the secure PC(USA) Web site or by sending their check to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
Please include the special designated giving account DR000081 –Middle East with your giving information.
Congregations should send donations through their normal mission giving channels.
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