Stories from the Field

The second and the third day of Eid Al-Adha dawned windy–one of the most important events in the Muslim calendar both religiously and socially — rainy and cold, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of HCI team in Middle East, assisted by volunteers and local partners, determined to see that the poorest of the poor had a decent feast day observance. It is a celebratory time when fresh Adahi meat is enjoyed.

Upholding a long-held tradition, thousands of families in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan — widows, orphans, unemployed, those with special needs — received meat packages along with a “Happy Eid” card and the good wishes of HCI supporting integrated development and relief programs in the communities where distributions were implemented. Recipient families were identified with assistance from village councils and local partners.

“This reinforces our emphasis on development versus relief,” stated Rabih Yazbeck, HCI ME Regional Director. “It allows us to share in local celebrations and support local residents on such important occasions,” he continued, “taking us beyond simple food distribution to underscore the entire development process in which we are engaged.”

HCI selection criteria directed meat allocation to low-income, large, and single-parent families, particularly if the single parent were a woman or person with special needs.

And since a picture says more than a thousand words, here is a selection of photos from HCI’s Adahi Program for this year:

The border village Al-Wazani, an underprivileged agricultural village in Southern Lebanon located directly on the Lebanese-Israeli border, was heavily affected by the July-August 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel. In addition to the total destruction of infrastructure, the loss of lives and an economy suffering badly from the recession that followed the war, livestock losses during the war are estimated at 1 600 high-yielding milking cows and more than 20 000 goats. The families that already lived in fragile conditions before the conflict, found themselves facing a very difficult situation with the loss of the much needed income; most of them having no savings to make new investments.

HCI project is helping hardest-hit farming families to recover their livestock losses and resume their production activities which include milk production and processing into local yogurt and cheese. This involves the distribution of milking cows to those families and providing them with technical and veterinarian assistance. The project involved the development of a revolving livestock scheme, but requiring the first newborn cows to be given to other families in need. The project also involved conducting a comprehensive survey in Al-Wazani area by profiling hardest-hit farming families and conducting a needs assessment for shortlisted families.

Last Monday and Wednesday, HCI dispatched two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip to help besieged Gazans survive the deteriorating living conditions. The trucks crossed King Hussein Bridge carrying basic food items.

“We seek to help besieged poor Gazans cope with the difficult situation they are currently going through,” HCI coordinator commented as he saw off the trucks, which were due to head for the West Bank city of Jericho, before continuing their journey to Gaza. The Hashemite Charity Organisation, HCI’s partner in Jordan, assisted in the preparation of the trucks, while the distributions of food aid are coordinated by UNRWA inside Gaza.

The two trucks were part of the few trucks allowed to enter Gaza Strip last week after Israel briefly opened three border crossings with Gaza, allowing some essential food and fuel into the territory for the second time in four weeks. However, the two-day shipment would have minimal impact because border crossings have been closed for so long, depleting reserves of everything from flour to animal feed.

Gaza has been sealed since November 4, as Israel cut food and fuel supplies when its troops raided the area to destroy what the army described as a tunnel built by Gaza fighters which triggered a surge in rocket attacks. The latest closures led to widespread power blackouts, disrupted water supplies and caused severe shortages of cooking gas and flour.

However, temporarily lifting the blockade would not allow enough supplies into Gaza. “It is just not enough,” HCI coordinator said, estimating that Gazans need at least 15 trucks worth of supplies daily to get by. If this continues, a very grim future waits ahead, and a humanitarian disaster is on the verge of happening.

The UN stopped distributing cash handouts to Gaza’s poorest last week, and economists and bank officials warn that tens of thousands of civil servants won’t be able to cash their paycheques when they get their salaries next month.

Israel and Egypt have restricted movement through Gaza’s border crossings since Hamas seized control in June 2007.

Since then, closures have been eased or tightened, depending on the security situation. But even in quiet times, only limited shipments of food, medicine and commercial goods were allowed in.

Recent reports revealed that 80% percent of the families living in the strip are fully dependent on food supplies from aid agencies, this means that the group at most risk are children, especially those who are under five. The number of children suffering from malnutrition, diarrhea, insomnia and anxiety attacks has increased to 40% percent under the current siege. School dropouts have surged due to the dangers of commuting to and from schools in such a volatile security situation, and also since many of the Gazan families cannot afford schooling for their children any more.

The cost of basic food supplies have sharply risen before and after the recent closures; in 2007 the average Gazan family spent 62% of their income on food supplies, compared to only 37% in 2004.

Gaza municipality is unable to operate the city’s sewage pumps and reservoirs, there is no safe mean in which Gazan can dispose their waste at, 40 million liters raw or partially treated sewage is being pumped into the Mediterranean Sea everyday.

The heath sector has witnessed a humongous impede in the amount of services provided, as the hospitals in Gaza lack sufficient beds, drugs, resuscitations devices, needles and blood to the meet the demand. Due to the fuel and severe electricity shortage, hospitals and medical centers have had to cut down from the amount of the health services being offered.

The situation in Gaza is becoming more intolerable by the day. Numerous cases of diseases and infection caused by malnutrition have been reported, in addition of the long term effect of such a situation on the well being and the mental health of the residents of the strip.

The two trucks dispatched by HCI last week loaded with basic food items to Gaza Strip will help 2,000 vulnerable families to cope with the difficult situation they are currently going through. This may be little but better than nothing and will help besieged needy Gazans survive the deteriorating living conditions — even if it is just for few days.