Healthy Food for Hungry Families in Gaza

ANERA food packets, purchased and preassembled in the West Bank, contain rice, tuna, baby food, milk and many other health staples.

Naheda and her youngest daughter

Families waited in line for ANERA staff handing out nutritious food packages of rice, lentils, canned foods and cooking oil. The basic supplies provide several weeks’ worth of meals for families who have no source of income and must rely on social welfare or donations.

Majed El-Qefari lives with his five children in a very simple house. "We don’t live in a U.N. camp, so we don't get any kind of assistance through that organization," he said. "We are thankful to ANERA for providing these food packages and we hope more support will be coming to help us through this tough economic situation."

ANERA staff has distributed the much needed food packages to needy families in the Rafah and Khan Younis areas of Gaza. The funding came from the Associates of Rural Development through a generous grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Gazans are having a hard time getting healthy meals because so many of their crops were destroyed in the recent war and fresh food from Israel costs too much.

In Rafah, the southern part of Gaza, widow Naheda Nasar cares for her two daughters and son. One daughter had to stop attending university because she could not pay the tuition. Naheda’s other daughter is handicapped. Naheda is not alone in her suffering. Most of the people waiting long hours in the cold for their food packages have similar stories.

"This package contains food that can provide us with enough for couple of weeks. If I use it wisely I can make it last longer," she said, holding her youngest child in her arms. Naheda lives close to the Palestinian-Egyptian border. During the recent shelling, her metal roof was partially destroyed and all the windows were broken.

Naheda was already thinking of the meals she could prepare with the lentils, canned tuna and meat and rice. "I can prepare a warm meal for my kids. This is the first time I am getting help from ANERA and I really appreciate it. Since the war, food is too expensive to buy enough to survive."

Date Modified: April 2009