Human Concern International (HCI) Middle East

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2011-03-12T21:10:00.002+02:00

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HCI Team

From The Al Shata Refugee Camp in Gaza Comes the Humanitarian Story of Sohad Hasi

2009-02-10T17:41:00.002+02:00

"My late husband Jawad has abandoned his fishing tools... he won't be bringing the colorful, all shapes and sizes fish to the house anymore... our children Mohamed, Ahmed and Abdullah will keep waiting for their dad to come back home."

This is how Sohad, a recent window that turned 27 few months ago started her conversation, holding her tears back so that the children won't see her crying. She told us that they moved from her husband's family overcrowded house only ten days before he died. UNRWA offered them a small apartment due to economical crises the family was undergoing; especially that Jawad, before he died, had stopped working ever since Israel prohibited fishing in the Sea of Gaza.

"We all had felt so happy and thrilled after UNRWA offered the small apartment for us, but this happiness could not continue. We had our own space with and extra room for the children, which is better than the one-room house in the camp where we used to live, where rain could come through in the winter, and it become like an oven in the summer."

Jawad passed away when he was out buying milk for our two-year son, Abdullah, from a shop just next to his parents' house. On his way back, he was fatally injured when an air strike targeted the nearby Shat'a Camp with missiles.

Retelling the incident, Sohad said, "I saw the bombing from our balcony.. I only saw a young man dying alone because people could not intervene for help due to the smoke. I was thinking to myself, that god helps the parents and the family of this young man. When the scene became clearer, I recognized the clothes. He was my husband Jawad. I ran down the street toward him. I was shouting so he could hear me. The ambulance came and I was with him. I begged him to wake up, to open his eyes, but he was just sleeping with a smile on his face".

Sohad waited for 2 hours in the hospital. The injuries that Jawad got were beyond severe: 3 in the head and 13 in the rest of his body. The doctors requested that she leaves the hospital; there was no room for people who are not injured or dead. She left the hospital. One her way back to her house, she started talking to herself: "I was asking myself what kind of a future will I have? My oldest son is 8 years old and my youngest is one year and 8 months old. As soon as I came inside the house, they informed me that Jawad died".

"Jawad is now relieved from the misery we live in", said Sohad. She moved back to her parent's house, where she is mourning her loss. "I always dreamt of having my own house, now, I can't, despair is my future and my children will live their lives as orphans, and I have no education and I have never worked in my life." She talks in despair."

"I can't concentrate any more", Sohad told us. "I'm thinking about my sons' lives and their well being; we barely making enough money to survive and we don't have any additional source of income. No one has helped me before; Human Concern International is the first sign of hope I see now. I'm so happy with all the help I received from you, as my children need help and care. I'm relieved because I know that my children will eat for at least 10 days - thanks to you, so please don't forget us."

I left Sohad and her sons taking the food and the hygiene items out of the box, while the children are choosing their dinner for the night. This is one of the many stories that Gaza unfolds these days. It might not be one of its most painful stories, but still it requires that we think about the future of people such as Sohad and her sons and the kind of future they might have without our help.

(This story is part of a series of personal stories, compiled by Eman Khader, depicting the state of despair and hope seen in Gaza today. They have been compiled by HCI personnel during HCI's relief and development work in the worst-hit areas in and around Gaza City. Through an at-home-needs assessment and extensive outreach activities each family received a parcel consisting of 27 food and hygiene items which were put together in partnership with HCI's local partner in Gaza, The Aid and Hope Centre for the Care of Cancer Patients and their Families. Forty-eight local volunteers are helping make this project possible.)

From the Hay Al-Zaytoun in Gaza comes the humanitarian story of Hussam Sa'eed Abu-Warda

2009-02-10T17:23:00.002+02:00

In Gaza, life has lost all taste and colour, everyday looks just like the other. Those were Hussam's first words when approached by HCI for assistance. Hussam, a former public servant, lost his job in 2007 and has not been able to find work since. Today, his days consist of watching TV for hours in hope that a cease-fire agreement or the like would finally bring an end to the ongoing dramatic events in the Gaza Strip.

Hussam and his and family live in Hay Al-Zaytoun, one of the worst-hit areas during the Israeli war on Gaza. Between on-going shooting and phosphoric bombs, days and nights were lost in a perpetual cycle of terror and fear.

To use the words of Hussam's eldest daughter, 11-year old Rowan- "we were all scared to death. We would never sleep and when the bombings intensified we would hold each other and pray, so in case we die we would die together, with nothing and no one to separate us." Rowan's siblings, Ahmed, Mohamed, Sa'eed and Dua', were telling of the same terror and fear they experienced. They spoke of the days when they were deprived of water, electricity and sometimes food and their complete oblivion to time. Their days were all the same, full of fear and apprehension.

While still employed Hussam's monthly income was still insufficient to even secure food. In addition Rowan and her two brothers Ahmed and Sa'eed have suffered from a heart condition since birth. Several years ago, they underwent a number of surgeries in one of Jerusalem's hospitals but still require constant medical attention and a healthy nutritious diet.

Despite the poverty and deprivation this family suffers from, its members remain cheerful, always smiling. Poverty has not stopped them from leading a happy life in their very modest yet clean home. Their story is that of a thousand other poor families in Gaza that continue to smile despite their loss and pain.

11-year old Rowan insisted that we take a video of her thanking HCI for its generous assistance at a time when the economic crisis in Gaza worsens and most families are finding themselves in danger of living under the poverty line. The other children were running about happily trying to appear in all pictures, mainly because they were happy to finally not have to split three boiled eggs amongst the five of them.

Hussam's wife, Suha, was discussing how it is impossible for them to purchase any meat or chicken because of the soaring prices. "A kilo of meat is approximately $20 while a kilo of chicken costs $6. Also, cooking gas is not available so I end up using wood to cook tomatoes and other very basic meals which are cheaper and more economical." The parcel offered by HCI, she added, will secure food for the family for at least one whole week. "I was always optimistic even throughout the most difficult times, because I knew that despite the siege and the war someone would eventually come knocking on my door- those people who did not forget us, who did not forget Gaza."

(This story is part of a series of personal stories, compiled by Eman Khader, depicting the state of despair and hope seen in Gaza today. They have been compiled by HCI personnel during HCI's relief and development work in the worst-hit areas in and around Gaza City. Through an at-home-needs assessment and extensive outreach activities each family received a parcel consisting of 27 food and hygiene items which were put together in partnership with HCI's local partner in Gaza, The Aid and Hope Centre for the Care of Cancer Patients and their Families. Forty-eight local volunteers are helping make this project possible.)

Post-Conflict Recovery for Gaza: Quick Impact Programs Assisting Gazans to Rebuild Their Lives

2009-02-05T16:17:00.006+02:00

As the fighting in Gaza subsidies, people have been venturing out to discover what is left of their lives. For many, the rubble reveals only further pain and despair. Civilians are no longer only concerned with mere survival, but they are now trying to come to terms with their loss.

"A number of areas inside Gaza City look like the aftermath of a strong earthquake where entire neighborhoods are beyond recognition. Some houses have been either completely leveled or badly damaged that it would be too dangerous to move back in," reported Eman Khader, Director of HCI's local partner NGO inside Gaza City. "For many families, everything they had worked for or achieved all their life had been destroyed. Their houses have been leveled or badly damaged; their orchards of olive, citrus, palm trees, fisheries, livestock or other forms of productive resources have been lost. They have lost everything," she concluded.

Needs and damage assessments are still underway. The twenty-two days of conflict left over 1,300 Palestinians dead, over 5,300 injured, and caused extensive damage to commercial enterprises, public infrastructure and agriculture. In addition, the substantial emotional and psychological damage on the population resulting from these hostilities can only be imagined. The humanitarian situation has been dire following the 18-month blockade of the Gaza Strip, where 80 percent of the population was already dependent on aid. Post-conflict conditions can now only be described as calamitous.

Supplies of basic foodstuffs and fuel, and the provision of medical, water and sanitation services remain critical. The long-term implications of this most recent conflict in terms of recovery and development are mounting. The livelihoods and assets of tens of thousands of civilians are being systematically undermined through the destruction of productive resources such as fruit orchards, fisheries, and basic industries.

Families that already lived in fragile conditions prior to the conflict will find themselves today facing a very difficult situation with the loss of the much needed income; most having no savings to make new investments. These dire economic conditions consequently lead to many other problems within the single household affecting health, education and hygiene. Of particular concern is the long-term psychological impact of the conflict on children, who make up 56 percent of the population of Gaza.

HCI and partners have begun assessing the immediate needs of the population in Gaza, particularly people located in Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip, which were among the areas most affected by the three weeks of hostilities. A post-conflict emergency and recovery plan has been drafted by HCI and its partners to be implemented immediately. The plan includes interventions related to emergency assistance for the vulnerable segments of the population, particularly women, elders and children people with special needs; people who have been internally displaced or lost their homes; and families who have lost their breadwinner.

HCI is currently focusing on re-establishing basic services, such as health, education, household economic revival, and psychosocial support including the provision of food and non-food supplies.

Food and Non-food Distributions

The number of truckloads of aid permitted to enter Gaza daily by the Israeli authorities remains inadequate, and humanitarian organizations, including HCI, continue to face serious restrictions in entering Gaza.

Despite the shortage of many supplies inside Gaza, some basic food and non-food necessities are becoming available in the market inside the Strip, which are imported by Gaza-based commercial suppliers. Due to price increases and the lack of currency, however, most Gazans are not able to acquire these necessities. Furthermore, the destruction of agricultural fields means that most Gazans dependent on farming for their living can no longer secure these basic food items.

As result, HCI prepared parcels containing food and hygiene items inside Gaza to be distributed to thousands of needy Gazans inside the Strip. Each package consists of 27 items which include food items such as flour, rice, meat cans, cooking oil, powder milk for children, sugar, lentil, pasta, cheese, jam, olive oil, tea, etc, as well hygiene supplies, such as washing soap, detergents, medical powder for infants, towels and cotton. The latest distribution will commence on Saturday, February 7, which will be targeting four neighborhoods inside the Gaza City. This distribution is implemented by the HCI partner in Gaza, the Aid & Hope Center for the Care of Cancer Patients and Their Families, made up of 48 volunteers.

"Families living in the El-Zaytoun, Shoujaiya and Tal El-Hawa neighborhoods in Gaza City, as well as at the Al-Shatia Camp on the periphery of the city will benefit from those distributions. Over a span of two weeks we profiled thousands of families in those four areas who are in dire need of support." Mme Khader explained. "Today, I visited a two-room house hosting 49 persons, the majority of them have lost their homes during the military operation," she added, telling of stories of destruction and devastation witnessed in Gaza today, a human tragedy which continues to be silenced; perhaps the loudest silence in the world.

Dispatched Aid Trucks

During the 18-month blockade on Gaza, HCI dispatched trucks loaded with basic commodities to Gaza by land. Last November, two trucks loaded with parcels of food supplies were dispatched to Gaza by land with the help of HCI's partner in Jordan, the Hashemite Charity Organization. The Hashemite Charity Organization assisted in the preparation of the trucks inside Jordan and transported them to Gaza by land after acquiring all necessary approvals from the relevant authorities. The trucks crossed the King Hussein Bridge and headed to the West Bank city of Jericho, before continuing their journey to the Karem Shalom border crossing in Gaza.

During the Israeli military operation, HCI dispatched additional trucks in partnership with the Hashemite Charity Organization. The latest dispatched trucks were loaded with 13 tons of tuna, sardine and meat cans which were distributed to needy families through UNRWA's distribution centers. Food cans are high in nutrition, easy to store and require no refrigerator, since there is no electricity in many parts of Gaza.

The Hashemite Charity Organization was one of the few organizations allowed to dispatch trucks to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing south of the Strip. The Kerem Shalom border crossing was partially open during the military operation, allowing an average of 50 trucks per day to enter Gaza. The supplies were then handed over to UNRWA to be distributed inside the Strip though UNRWA's ten distribution centers. The Hashemite Charity Organization dispatched an average of 7 trucks per day to Gaza during the military attack.

Agriculture Industry

According to WFP, between 35-60 percent of the agriculture industry has been damaged by the Israeli military operation. FAO estimates that 13,000 families who depend directly on farming, herding and fishing have suffered significant damage to their livelihoods.

HCI's post-conflict recovery and rehabilitation plan includes a livelihood support project for farmers, which will help hardest-hit farming families to recover their losses and resume their production activities. The first of these is an attempt to equip widows and at-risk youth with the tools they need to become self-sufficient, earning much needed additional income. The 'Beekeeping for Child Education and Family Income' project seeks to train such individuals in the art of honeymaking. By working with public schools in the area, teachers will impart technical bee-keeping skills to school students in need of additional means of financial support. Honey produced during the training process will fund teacher incomes and will be invested in the school's facilities. HCI will furnish participants with the tools (beehives, bee strains...etc..) they need to start their very own beekeeping farms, small businesses producing quality local honey. The start-up costs for this project are small, and the potential for income is great. The prospective impact such a program will have on local farmers affected by the war is immense.

Local Economic Recovery
With the aim to support post-conflict sustainable livelihoods initiatives in the Gaza Strip, HCI is preparing a comprehensive workshop for HCI partner NGOs working inside the Strip.

Twelve participants identified from among HCI local partner NGOs working inside the Strip will travel to Cairo to participate in the Local Economic Recovery (LER) training workshop organized by HCI. Participants will draft a comprehensive local economic recovery plan to be supported by HCI and other international aid agencies. Quick impact projects/programs aiming to revitalize the economy and eventually lead to sustainable development will be developed.

The training program also aim to strengthen the participating NGOs' operational tools and integrate them within a mainstreamed local economic recovery strategy in the Gaza Strip. Participants will review and analyze different activities and methodologies of supporting livelihoods within the context of local economic recovery approach.

Kindergartens Rehabilitation

In keeping with HCI's past work to increase the availability of quality education in Palestine, a rehabilitation program for community-run kindergartens in Gaza has been developed. These Kindergartens, many of them have been largely damaged during the military operation, are in dire need of rehabilitation/rebuilding, both in the physical (sanitation, heating/air conditioning and ventilation) and theoretical (training, psychological teaching approaches) sense.

The 'Brining Hope to Palestinian Pre-school Children' kindergarten rehabilitation program will not only provide financial gains for new female teachers and parents returning to the work force, it will also provide children with a much needed distraction from the deteriorating circumstances in the Strip. These children will be exposed to a rich educational environment that will serve as a haven from the chaos, destruction and poverty of settlement life.

The Kindergartens will be provided with much needed educational materials and toys, as well as playgrounds. Teachers will be given educational training grounded in solid psychological methodology. New job openings will be created for tens of female instructors. Enrolment in kindergarten programs is expected to increase as a result of the availability of well-equipped kindergartens with strong curriculums and skilled teachers. Parents who enroll their children will be able to return to part or full time jobs, thus increasing their household income.

Since 2004, 3,854 children attending 34 kindergartens in the West Bank have benefited from similar program implemented by HCI through the rehabilitation of kindergartens as well as the provision of dairy supplements, nutrition items along with basic school supplies.

Health

A $1.8 million medical aid package has been put together by HCI with the help of Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC), to treat the sick, injured and malnourished. It will be coordinated through UNRWA and WHO inside Gaza. The shipment is scheduled to arrive to Aqaba port in Jordan in the coming 10 days, and which will be shipped by land to Gaza.

The shipment include medicines such as antibiotics, high-blood pressure and diabetes medicines, aspirin, blood clots, rheumatoid arthritis, , injectable anticoagulant, asthma and allergy, ulcers, and other medicines. The shipment also include large quantity of medical supplies such as needles and syringes, sharps containers, wound care, enteral feeding, blood collection, suction, electrodes, dialysis/vascular access, vascular therapy, sutures, and others.

In 2007, similar shipment of medications was sent to Gaza and the West Bank, were 60% of the designated items went to Gaza to the higher health committee of coordination, a body represented by both NGOs and community leaders to examine the health needs of people in Gaza.

Child Sponsorship

HCI's child sponsorship program, which sponsors children from single mother-headed households, will be expanded to include new orphans inside Gaza. HCI has started the screening and the selection of orphans inside Gaza to be included in the scheme. Orphans sponsored by the scheme are individually selected by HCI in partnership with grassroots partners. The sponsorship is given to the orphan and their family to help towards living costs.

HCI's regional child sponsorship program started in Palestine in 2006 by sponsoring 67 orphans. 83 Palestine children are now sponsored through this program.

Support for University Students

In addition to post-conflict relief and rehabilitation work which HCI is committed to and consistently pursuing in Gaza, Gazan students from the Bir Zeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah are now receiving funds from HCI to contribute towards their living expenses. Despite decades of conflict and destruction, the Palestinian culture continues to hold education as one of the primary assets to an improved and progressive society. In fact, Palestine boasts one of the highest higher-education rates in the Arab region. Education is thus adamantly pursed, despite wars, despite poverty, and in face of all possible obstacles.

These young women and men have left their families behind in Gaza to pursue their education at the University of Bir Zeit in Ramallah but are now bearing the brunt of more devastation and destruction that has fallen upon their homes, their families, and their relatives in the Gaza strip. Not only have they been unable to reach or communicate with their families to ensure their safety but they themselves have lost all source of income and are now incapable of either financing their education or sustaining a living in Ramallah.

As a result, the University offered to waver some of the tuition payments for some of these Gazan students and HCI came in to provide the much needed sponsorship which would contribute towards the students living expenses. "Education goes beyond literacy; it is a capability which can ensure opportunity and HCI is continuing to support and motivate those who need it most", commented Sara Barakat, HCI's coordinator in the West Bank and the director of the local NGO, the Vocational & Rehabilitation Workshops for Girls in Gaza and the West Bank.

War, Occupation, Catastrophe, Poverty, Illness

2008-12-03T15:43:00.007+02:00

There are five people sitting in the same dirt-yard. The first is an old man; he is a vegetable peddler. He is aged, and the limbs of his body seem to rage against each other. There is no coordination in his movements, he is ragged, one of his eyes has been put out and the threat on his second eye is looming. He is war.

The second is a young girl in borrowed clothing; her own garments have been taken away from her. She is a prisoner, and every day she reaches her tiny hands through the bars hoping for a morsel, yet the world turns a blind eye. She is occupation.

The third is a dark-skinned young man with smoldering eyes. He is in a wheelchair; his legs have been mutilated beyond any resemblance of normal limbs. He is catastrophe.

The fourth is an infant boy whose face has lost its baby roundness. Hunger has eaten away at his limbs, and this is because he is an orphan. He has no mother to feed him. He is poverty.

The fifth is a young lady of exceptional beauty who has been torn and ravaged by the times. She can only run with those behind her gaining fast. She has nowhere to go. She is illness.

The month of Ramadan is a month of family, generosity, tradition. The tradition of fasting is one that makes people all over the world feel with those who are hungry, with those who are destitute. It is a time when hands are stretched out to those in need with love and care. And in this month in general is all the generosity of the world contained in the hearts of those who care. Human Concern International is one of those who care. They have done, this past Ramadan, work that will last in the hearts of the destitute forever. For the time being, at least, war, occupation, destruction, poverty and illness are vanquished.

Lebanon is the old man War. Civil strife, especially around Tripoli lately in the north, is rampant. Civilians struggle to meet their needs and educate their children. It is like the scarred, hopeless old man who is peddling his vegetables to no one who can afford to buy them. They turn stagnant, much like his hopes. In order to help this old man, HCI held two iftars in which delicious and nutritious food was available to the orphans of Tripoli and their families. They also distributed food packets to the needy in the north, in the south and in the east of the country, putting a smile on the old man's face for the first time in a long time.

Palestine is the young girl occupation. The families of martyred men lose their source of income and are in dire need of assistance. The Israeli siege and checkpoints make sure that little help is got to them. They are losing hope of survival. And yet, through terrible conditions in which food packets were investigated scrupulously and spoiled, thrown on the ground and left to rot, the determination of the HCI crew managed to distribute hundreds packages to hundreds needy families. Thus the HCI managed to find--not only bread and water-- but also cake and tea to the imprisoned young girl with the hands stretched out.

Sudan is the young man catastrophe. The countrymen of Sudan have to live where every institution is a catastrophe: educational, economical, environmental, political, constitutional, infrastructure, health, civilisation, development and so on. And the squalid way in which the population is spread out duplicates the suffering of the Sudanese people. The HCI made their way through desolate lands, unpaved roads, dry landscapes and hazy horizons in order to get help to the Sudanese people. They managed to held two iftars and distribute hundreds food packages to needy Sudanese families at four poverty-stricken communities.

Egypt is the baby boy poverty. The village communities are vulnerable and marginalized, lacking proper heath and medical care services. The HCI helped the poor civilians of village communities by distributing five hundred Ramadan food parcels with rice, pasta, broad beans, vegetable ghee, sugar, tea and dried apricots. This definitely helped an infant smile to grow on the baby boy's face.

Iraq is the young lady illness. More specifically, she is an Iraqi refugee. Iraqi refugees tend to stuff into cramped ragged apartments, most often an entire family in a single room. There's little furniture and inadequate heat. Living in such congested quarters can increase the spread of illnesses, but most can't afford or access health services. The HCI helped many needy and destitute families by distributing food packages this Ramadan.

One by one, these five people sitting in the dirt-yard have come into contact with kindness, warmth, and humanity in the form of the HCI, and each has learned just how grateful one can be to an extended helping hand. The HCI hopes that during Laylatul Qadr their fates for the next year will be kinder, and our fates on this side of the line will help us help them even more. And the HCI says, Ramadan Kareem, kareem indeed.

Besieged Gaza Strip: Vulnerable Gazans Got Food Aid from HCI

2008-12-01T16:39:00.005+02:00

Last Monday and Wednesday, HCI dispatched two tracks 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 tracks 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," Rabih Yazbeck, HCI Regional Director 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.

HCI Expands Badly-Needed Health Services for Displaced Sudanese

2008-10-24T16:34:00.001+03:00

For the past five years, HCI has been working for the well being of the estimated 11,000 internally displaced people of Salama settlement, who have fled the violence in the south and west of their country and now live south of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Here they face chronic poverty, both high unemployment and illiteracy, and many health problems. Their health is jeopardized by both poverty and the environment in which they live. Eyesight related diseases rank very high among children due to environmental and dietary habits, as HCI research found out, particularly due to the pollution of drinking water and dietary habits.

HCI new intervention in the area addresses this problem by implementing an eyesight health campaign targeting school-aged children in the area. The project conducted a needs assessment/research of health issues of greater concerns to the local community.

The first intervention addresses eyesight related disease and eyesight problems by implementing mobile clinics to provide eyesight medical checkups and provide them with medicines and eye glasses. Eye related first-aid boxes and medical supplies were also provided to families. Water tanks for safe drinking water were also installed at two schools. Hundreds of families and their children participated and benefited from this campaign.

In partnership with three local grassroots organizations and Peace and Development Volunteers (PDV), a local voluntary organization, hundreds of school-aged children benefited from this intervention to-date at two sites in the same area. A third campaign will be implemented later this month at a remaining third site. Such intervention allowed for the implementation of quick impact interventions that built confidence between the partners and provided solid ground to expand much-needed health interventions in the area.

HCI operation in this area stretches back to 2003. HCI has been helping people in the area through community-based organizations established by local residents. Since 2003, HCI has been working in this area on microcredit projects for women, school rehabilitation, education support, income generating activities and food and non-food distributions.

In partnership with local and international partners, HCI has been working on health programs in Khartoum since 2002, particularly in Dar-El-Salaam settlement north of the capital Khartoum and home to about 16,000 displaced people. This include establishing a fully operational health clinic providing health and reproductive services for over 33,000 patients; seven women trained in community health outreach, emphasizing nutrition and hygiene; three women trained as midwives; and nine as home visitors, benefiting nearly 4,000 families; health awareness training for 45 women, establishment of a health awareness committee, and surveys conducted on reproductive health.

Livelihood Support for War-Affected Rural Families in Lebanon

2008-10-23T15:10:00.003+03:00

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.

As a result, farmers are regaining access to food and sources of income. Among the most affected households who are benefiting from the project are families headed by widows, the wounded or the handicapped.

"As the number of livestock to be distributed remains low in relation to the magnitude of the losses, a substantial extension of the rehabilitation plan would be required to bring livestock keeping in Southern Lebanon to pre-war levels," Mr Rabih Yazbeck, HCI Middle East Regional Director, commented.

In addition to the livestock recovery project, HCI is assisting hardest-hit horticulture farmers through the distribution of high quality fertilizer and pesticides to ensure increased crop production.

Support for the Neediest Palestinian Olive Farmers in the West Bank

2008-10-20T17:37:00.003+03:00

In the West Bank, civilians are cut out from the rest of the world because of the Israeli siege without any supply or support; they are deprived from basic life elements and their rights to live normally, in addition to difficulties they face in receiving support from foreign aid agencies. This obliged many operating aid agencies in the West Bank to seize operation, which in turn made the daily lives of Palestinians more miserable and prohibited them from getting their dire needs like nutriment and medicines.

Al Khodr, Houssan, Nahalen, Fouken valley, Bater, Al Walja and Al Jabaa in the South of West Bank are an example of olive oil rich, yet low-income villages that are suffering from the Israeli siege, the nearby Israeli settlements and the new West Bank Wall/Barrier. Farmers in these villages are constantly facing huge hurdle to access and cultivate their olive oil rich lands - the only source of income for them - especially farms close to the Israeli settlements or the new West Bank Wall/Barrier.

To alleviate the suffering and meet the dire need of low-income Palestinian olive oil growers and farmers, HCI has implemented the olive oil development project which consisted on building the capacity of farmers and provided them with much needed harvesting and pruning tools and equipments that helped them increase and improve their olive oil production, thus boosting their income.

In the West Bank and Gaza, HCI has pioneered in working on projects in the area of Olive Oil Development since 2005. In 2005, HCI, in partnership with local partners, pioneered into a totally new venture to help Palestinian olive oil growers and farmers. The initiative started in 2005 and helped to build up both the community networks and the expertise in the field of Olive oil development which enabled HCI to be one of the leading organizations in olive oil development in the country.

Far more than sentimental attachment in the eyes of Palestinians, olive trees--properly managed--can raise the incomes of hard-working farmers who often get relatively low prices from traders for their olive oil and not the true value of their product. HCI is committed to revitalizing this traditional Palestinian industry, in partnership with local partners.

Building on this success and accumulated experience, this recent intervention has targeted a new region in the south of West Bank, particularly seven low-income villages around Bethlehem suffering from deteriorating security and economic conditions and several restrictions and barriers.

140 farms were targeted by project activities. Equipments and tools were distributed to 70 farms in condition that they will be shared with another 70 neighbour farms.
Low-income and vulnerable olive farmers were targeted by project activities. Selection criteria included: low income families; families with more than 6 family members; families not receiving any support from other sources; priority for vulnerable groups, particularly families who have members in the family with special needs, widows, and elders; farms suffering from restrictions and barriers, e.g., close to Israeli settlements and/or near the West Bank Wall/Barrier.

New equipment, especially for harvesting and storage, included saws, plastic boxes, insect traps, ladders, and tanks for storage were distributed.

This was complemented by orientation workshops for farmers on important topics such as pruning, harvesting methods and techniques, preventing and fighting diseases, watering, and the right time for olive picking. HCI's direct work with farmers boosted acceptance of these methods and increased awareness of the potential of a developing, local, olive oil industry.

Several local government and non-government, formal and informal entities were consulted and were invited to participate in project activities, including the selection of beneficiaries, the selection of targeted areas, and the prioritization of needs as well as in the delivery of project activities. The project was implemented in partnership with HCI local partner, the West Bank based Vocational Rehabilitation Workshops Society for Girls (VRWSG).

Local suppliers and extension workers benefited from those distributions. Harvesting and pruning tools and equipments were procured and acquired from local suppliers to support them in these deteriorating economic conditions.

Honoring Ramadan Traditions in Sudan, Extending Help to the Poor

2008-10-08T17:33:00.005+03:00

The Holy Month of Ramadan is a time for inner reflection by Muslims, devotion to God, self control, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is also a particularly joyous time when relatives and friends invite each other over to gather around a table and break the fast together--Iftar--and above all a time of giving and feeling for the poor.

For several years HCI and its local partners have joined together to honor these traditions, extending help to the poor and needy in the communities they serve in Sudan.

This Ramadan, hundreds of Sudanese families received nutritional packages. In some of the poorest areas of Khartoum, widows and orphans, the elderly and the disabled, as well as low income families were able to fully participate in their traditions.

The most difficult to reach, HCI stretched out its hand through seven local non-governmental organizations and committees, working in four different areas.

In the poverty-stricken Salama settlement, south of the capital Khartoum, distribution and Iftars took place with the help of three local organizations: El Nahda (Society for Well-being of the Physically Disabled), Al-Hannan Association and Disability People Organization. In Dar El-Salam Tawidat settlement, north of the capital Khartoum, distribution and Iftars took place at two schools and a mosque. Other distribution points and assisting community organizations were: African Charitable Society for Mother and Child Care, Al Khogali Khalwa and Um-Mou'mineen organization.

"HCI Ramadan program increased closeness among the families in their communities," commented HCI coordinator in Sudan who coordinated and supervised the distribution in each area. "This year's distribution was well organized and more focused and transparent," he concluded.

A Trip to Bab Al Tabaneh in Tripoli: A Lesson in Hope

2008-10-08T16:56:00.004+03:00

"I'm already feeling nervous and it has only been few hours since I arrived. How do those permanently living here feel? How do they manage?" wondered Aminah Kandar, a visiting Board Member from HCI-Canada, during a field visit to Tripoli. Aminah was accompanied by HCI's local partner CIWS, specifically to the troubled area of Bab Al Tebeneh. This area is where the poorest families in Tripoli live, and where the economical cycle is mostly dependent on recycling metal - a job that barely makes a living.

We stood there trying to locate the house of an HCI sponsored child, despite the wreckage, and the warning sign displaying "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER THE BUILDING! MUNICIPALITY OF TRIPOLI" placed upfront, we went inside. The El-Sayed family that we were trying to reach, lives in this building where a massive explosion took place in middle of the night two months ago. This area has witnessed since April this year the deadliest clashes in Tripoli's history. The northern city of Tripoli in Lebanon is the second most populated city yet the poorest city in Lebanon. This City of Tripoli is also known to be the poorest city on the Mediterranean sea.

Ahmed's recently widowed mother, Fadileh, welcomed us inside her house surrounded by broken windows and cracked walls -- a house that was shattered and wrecked from the intensity of the explosion. "We wear sleeping there", Fadileh pointed out to the other room in house. "When the explosion happened, we woke up on a massive sound. I thought the building is falling over our heads," Fadileh added. "I don't know how did I reach for the children and ran towards the door. The shattered glass was all over the floor. I could hardly see from the dust and smoke. I was surrounded by my crying kids, but I could barely hear because my ears were bleeding. The smell of fire was increasing. I tried to unlock the door but it was stuck because of the intensity of the explosion. It was a total chaos. The neighbors finally managed to break in and helped us get out of the house. As I left the house, I distributed my six kids among my relatives in the near villages, and I came back here seeing if I could salvage anything," she concluded with tears in her eyes.

Fadileh was widowed in 2002 when her husband suffered from a fatal fall while working, leaving her alone with 6 children aged 5 to 14 years old to take care of all by herself. Fadileh worked as a janitor for couple of months, but had to quit because of health problems.

Ahmed (5yrs) and his siblings were very excited about us; it is very rare that they get visitors from anyone. "I want to be an army officer" Ahmed said while smiling, "I want to protect my family", he added. The Al Sayed family lives under extreme poverty and continuous insecurity like most of the Bab Al Tabaneh residents. Ahmed has been sponsored by HCI for two years. This sponsorship is currently the only source of income for the entire family.

Only 14 years old, and already engaged, the oldest daughter had dropped out of school. Fadileh thinks that her daughter's future husband will substitute the needed male figure in her family, and will provide protection and security. We had a long discussion with Fadileh and her oldest daughter, Abeer, concerning early marriage, and the need and importance of Abeer's education. Fadileh, agreed but added, "I had a dream to see my children either medical doctors or army officers, but right now I can't afford the education of six children, even in a public school. I don't have a job, and no one takes care of us, including my family and my relatives. I don't want to imagine what would have happened to us without Ahmed's sponsorship provided by HCI," Fadileh concluded while remembering how Ahmed got sponsored by HCI two years ago.

Al Sayed family is one of many cases that HCI is supporting through the regional Child Sponsorship Program. This program provides not only financial support, but also hope; not only for the sponsored children, but in many cases, such as Al Sayed family, hope for the entire family. As we walked out of the building, hoping that we will continue supporting Fadileh and her family, Ahmed was waving good bye from the wrecked and unstable balcony, smiling at us and inspiring us to keep on working harder to not only help Ahmed but also others. Without this sponsorship, Ahmed and his entire family could have lived their entire life not knowing what hope is.

West Bank: School Bags for Children in Need

2008-09-25T14:35:00.005+03:00

"HCI contribution has improved the lives of many families living in despair and gave hope to many hopeless children. Just watch the smile of every child who benefited from HCI school bags project you can then see the great impact the project had on those children" commented Sarah Barakat, President of HCI local partner in the West Bank, Vocational Rehabilitation Workshops Society for Girls (VRWSG).

Among many stories of need and despair that was revealed to the VRWSG team, the story of Jihad, an 11 year old orphan from Hebron, was the most touching. Jihad almost fell into tears while holding his new schoolbag, not believing that he will go to school with a new schoolbag this year. He came to the VRWSG center where some of the school bags were distributed. Upon receiving his bag, he thanked one of the volunteers by saying "Every year, I either use an old one and fear that my books will fall off, or I wait, as some of the neighbors might pass me another one that their child used to have, and I use it hoping that it wont break soon", Jihad was smiling and would not let go of his bags. All the volunteers at the center were very touched, seeing him that happy.

The distribution of the school bags, stationary and school supplies this year was a natural response to the needs of the families included in an assessment carried by the VRWSG in the towns of Hebron and Bethlehem, to identify projects that can provide instant support to poor families.

The holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the school year together in the same month were one of too many expenses on families barely making a living. By offering a schools bag, stationary and school supplies, around thousand family were able to make sure that this month would end smoothly, without having to make a hard decision, like taking a child out of school to cut expenses (most probably a female child). A women from Batir village shouted out laud while receiving the school bags: "I did not know where to get the money to buy school supplies for my daughters. Please make sure to pass my gratitude to HCI". The VRWSG team was happy to hear such comments; still, they knew that together with the HCI, a long road is still waiting ahead, especially while working in Palestine, were the Israeli occupation constitutes the main obstacle in reaching people in need.

The villages that received the school bags could have simply waited forever till the school bags arrive if the volunteer's convoy was not so determined to carry on. "We don't believe in failure. We believe in challenging the obstacles we face in order to succeed", commented Mariam, a VRWSG team member. Her comment summarizes the group of women determination to overcome many of the challenges in working in volatile area such as the West Bank. "When we were delivering the school supplies to AL Woljeh village, we were asked by the Israeli soldiers to step down from the car and we were interrogated about the bags, and we were requested to open each and every single one of them, as they were not exactly thrilled with the idea of helping Palestinian students. After a brief argument, and after ten bags were opened and thrown on to the ground, we were released, and were able to deliver the bags," Mariam explained. "Another check point in Hebron stopped the team of the Union of Palestinian Women Committee for three hours without a reason. They were forced to stand up under the sun for about three hours before releasing them," she concluded.

As Palestinian students go to school, and as families celebrate Ramadan and look forward for the Eid, not having to worry about some of the school expenses, and not having to pull one of the children out of the school, HCI is planning for additional projects to improve the lives of these families, especially the life of their children. This is what HCI does: help alleviate human suffering through projects that foster self-reliance, self-directness and preserves human dignity.

Iraqi Refugees: A Celebration of Being Accepted, Being Taken Care Of

2008-09-24T12:30:00.008+03:00

"It is like a celebration of being accepted, being taken care of and being supported," commented one of the Iraqi refugees in Zarqa, Jordan, who was receiving medical equipments provided by HCI. She is one of many Iraqis benefited from HCI long-time project helping Iraqi refugees, particularly those with special needs, with relief supplies, medical equipments and supplies and nutrition support.

Here in Jordan, the villas and fine cars of well off Iraqis in suburban west Amman belie the circumstances of less advantaged Iraqi "guests," who settled into congested, relatively anonymous urban neighborhoods alongside low-income Jordanians. Without residency permits and unable to work legally, Iraqis are often fearful of seeking out official forms of assistance. They largely confine themselves to their homes because of economic constraints, disabilities and concerns about their legal status. Access to educational and health services remain limited. Their situation becomes ever more precarious, as meager resources dwindle and their future remains uncertain. They are struggling to hold their families together with very little means. They don't know what is going to happen to them. Their current situation is grim, but they say there is no way they can go home. Home is where they saw the killing and kidnapping of loved ones, the destruction of their communities and the constant threat of violence, torture and extortion. Growing numbers are living at or below the poverty line. The resources of many families have dwindled to almost nothing and this creates concern about the simplest things, like how they will feed their children each night.

It is estimated that Jordan is hosting more than 500,000 Iraqi refugees, while the city of Zarqa is hosting large number of them; high number of them are known to be physically, psychologically and/or economically vulnerable. About two thirds of Iraqi refugees in Jordan are children and youth below the age of 24.

The project intends to serve 1000 vulnerable Iraqi refugees in the first year, including 200 refugees with mental or physical impairment and 200 children and youth below the age of 24. In its first phase, the project is working to enhance the standard of living of vulnerable Iraqi refugees, particularly persons with mental and physical impairment, female-headed households, elderly and children. The project is also working to build the capacity of local CBOs and social workers to provide at-home individualized support and individualized relief aid for vulnerable Iraqi refugees, particularly persons with mental and physical impairment.

During the holy month of Ramadan, HCI provided individualized relief aid for vulnerable Iraqis refugees with disability which include:

Essential medical equipments for people with disability,
Basic home maintenance/appliances that contribute to accessibility and mobility as well as capacity for independent living, and
Food and nutritional aid.

This was preceded by capacity building activities for local CBOs and local social workers to provide at-home individualized support and individualized relief aid for people with disability using combination of theoretical training and field application. 10 women social workers developed systems and gained skills to provide at-home needs assessment and profiling. Over one week, social workers visited every beneficiary and assessed their needs on the ground.

Items distributed include: wheelchairs, crutches, bath seats, elevated chairs, toilet aid accessories, ramps, hearing aid accessories, medical mattresses, and other essential medical and accessibility supplies for people with disability.

HCI has been working with local partners, particularly HCI local partner New Development (NDEV), to assist Iraqi refugees in Jordan since 2005. HCI has extensive experience assisting refugees and displaces persons and promoting social cohesion in the region.

Bringing hope of New Kalabsha and Garf Hussien: An HCI specialty

2008-08-21T14:42:00.002+03:00

Around the West of Lake Nasser in Aswan, the settlements of New Kalabsha and Garf Hussien felt a breeze of fresh air, arriving when HCI-funded medical care mobile units paid them a visit, and offered medical and health care services covering skin diseases, dental medicine, intestinal diseases, gynecology and much more.

The residents of these settlements live in poor health conditions, and they rarely have access to proper medical care, and the only permanent service they benefit from is one health unit with one paramedic, offering basic medications that one can not help but noticing its modesty, in comparison to the needs of the these villages.

With the help of Egypt-based Center for Development Services (CDS), the Directorate of Health Population in Aswan and the High Dam Authority, the medical care mobile units offered help for almost 883 individual including 543 women and 151 child living in extreme poverty and at the risk of severe health problems.

The staff working in these mobile clinics, helped as much people as they can for two days. Doctors, nurses and social workers taking part in this operation, understood the importance of having this immediate intervention, and highly recommended the importance of doing more rounds in the very near future.

The medical care mobile units left the villages with a sense of content, but also realizing the medical and social risk factors that exist in New Kalabsha and Garf Hussien villages. The mission of Human Concern International is to provide care and help individuals in need. The medical care mobile units' experience led HCI to strengthen its responsibility and commitment towards the people of the west of Lake of Nasser, in working together with them to improve the quality of their lives.

Khojali Khalwa: History, commitment, opportunities and hope

2008-08-12T17:37:00.007+03:00

Founded in 1734 in the West of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the Khojali Khalwa/Mosque is home now to over 300 students.

The majority of the students come from low-income families from the Western part of Sudan, particularly from the Darfur area. They come at 6 years of age to learn Arabic, Tafsir, Shari'ah, Hadith, Mantiq, and history, and eventually to become Hafiz. At Khojali Khalwa, they also learn vocational skills as carpenters, electricians, and technicians. More recently, the Khojali Khalwa opened a computer lab composed of 6 computers connected to the internet.

"The only way out of the misery is education, and education helps you to believe in God, and eventually helps you believe in people and their abilities to improve themselves", Al-Khalifa Moustafa Ahmad, the Khalwa supervisor and descendant of the founder, commented while welcoming us to his humble office at the Khalwa.

"We don't have income, but we survive on occasional assistance and in-kind support from fellow citizens as well as from organizations such as yours", Al-Khalifa Moustafa added while he toured us around the Khalwa, showed us the newly opened mosque and the expanded health center associated with the Khalwa.

My colleagues and I visited the crowded dormitories and met and chatted with the students, which many of them were busy washing their clothes and their new uniforms provided by HCI.

Earlier this summer, with a generous donation from a long-term donor, HCI provided the Khalwa and the students with one-year supply of dates, "Durra Dabar" food, washing soap, bath soap, and uniforms for all the students. Monthly prizes for one year for becoming a Hafiz were also provided by HCI.

We concluded our visit to the Khalwa by passing by the untenable kitchen which lack basic amenities where the slaughtered sheep was prepared for the dinner. HCI has provided the Khalwa with sheep, averaging two sheep per month for one year.

Heroic people on a special mission

2008-07-30T14:56:00.014+03:00

Desolated land, unpaved roads, dry landscape, hazy horizon, donkey carts, small motorbikes, roaming barefooted children, makeshift houses, no schools, health facilities, water, electricity or sanitation. This is how I describe the Salama settlement south of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, which I visited last week with my colleagues. HCI has been operating in this area since 2003 empowering three community organizations in the area.

The poverty-stricken Salama settlement, home of more than 11,000 internal refugees, was founded 20 years ago by individuals and families fleeing conflicts in the West and the South of the country. Many live in stick frames temporary houses with waste plastic sheeting as a cover.

HCI operation in this area stretch back to 2003. HCI has been helping people in the area through three community-based organizations established by local residents. The history of each of the three organizations is a story by itself reflecting how few heroic residents had the courage to lead the change toward self-directness and self-support in the face of enormous challenges.

A case in point, community-based organization Disability People International (DPI) which was founded in 1995 by residents to provide the physically disabled with opportunities to share their talent and skills for the betterment of their entire community. They were determinant to lead the way towards a better life for their peers and their entire community.

DPI sponsors the community school with an enrollment of 600+. DPI students are required to pay a basic fee of US$ 25 per year. In fact, only about a quarter have the money and most of those that do pay can average only $6-7. More than half of this money is used to maintain school facilities and the rest to compensate basically volunteer teachers, who themselves are generally disabled.

These people founded the school to serve the community. All staff and teachers are disabled...disabled people serving the community, rather than being served.

DPI focuses attention on "dropouts," early leavers from either the DPI or other schools, often in the communities they left behind. Over 200 such children are now in the DPI program and receive basic education and follow-up. They attend afternoon classes from 2 to 4 p.m.

Teachers and staff in the DPI school and other programs are volunteers, including the principal.

Over the years, HCI has provided for DPI training, a library, school books, food supplements, credit capital, blankets, and holiday distributions. More recently, HCI is providing school bags, stationary and training suite for many of DPI's students, particularly primary and elementary students.

In 2005 a group of teachers from DPI, themselves disabled, founded El Nahda (Society for Well-being of the Physically Disabled) as a "sister organization" focused on the special needs of the disabled and their families.

Al Nahda surveys and registers the disabled, provides informal counseling and referral, and advocates for their rights within their community and with larger organizations and the government.

Al Nahda has 300 members, each pays $1 per month for membership. This money is used to maintain a small one-room office where the disabled can meet and which HCI has helped cover an area in back for outdoor meetings. Also with the help of HCI, plastic chairs have been added to complete this facility that is used for adult literacy and health/disability education in the afternoon. More recently, Al Nahda established a pre-school and an adult literacy class - also with the help of HCI, independent of DPI, for residents who need to remain close to home since DPI lacks sufficient space for either of these services.

Further, HCI helped both societies to offer credit for income-generating activities for low-income residents, and for the disabled and their families. Al Nahda's new program, funded by HCI, focus on those with disabilities or parents of disabled children.

Both societies, along with another local society Al-Hannan Association, are now working with HCI to implement a health campaign targeting resident children, particularly students served by the three NGOs. The project is conducting a needs assessment/research of health issues of greater concerns to the local community. The first intervention is eyesight tests and the provision of eye glasses for resident students. This will allow for the implementation of quick impact interventions that will build confidence between the partners and provide solid ground to expand much-needed health interventions in the area.

I want to conclude this by remembering Alfonse Muni's words, who founded DPI and was the director until he passed away last year in sad accident: "We wanted to help others. We as disabled people had suffered much and we couldn't simply stand by and let others suffer. Our struggle was one with our community...we were from the same background and lived under the same conditions and constraints. In fact, we were lucky, most of us are educated and have managed to make something of our lives. We thought we could help others do the same. That was our dream."

Layla, and her right to be given the opportunity for a better future

2008-07-18T16:36:00.005+03:00

Physical and psychological disability among Iraqi refugees in Jordan is known to be very high, with higher rates among children and youth. About two thirds of disabled Iraqis are children and youth below the age of 24.

Layla, age six years, is the daughter of an Iraqi family who fled the conflicts in Bghdad in the mid nineties and took refuge in Zarqa, Jordan's second largest city, which struggles with poor physical infrastructure, congestion, industrial pollution, and limited community support capacity, as reflected in high rates of poverty, child labor and crime.

Layla has Down Syndrome which resulted in impairment of her cognitive ability, moderate learning disability, and noticeable slow physical growth as well as facial appearance.

"Although she is six years old, but her slow physical growth makes her look like a one year old baby," said her mother when I visited them with my HCI colleagues yesterday. "She can't talk, can't walk and eat very slowly like a newborn baby," her mother added.

Layla lives with her three brothers and sister and her two parents in a small apartment on the outskirt of Zarqa. Her father Jalal is a house-painter working irregularly in the informal market because he lacks work permit. His average monthly income of $200 can barely cover the $100 monthly house rent and the $100 monthly tuition for Layla’s special school for people with learning disability.

"I tried to look for a job to support the family income since my husband's work is very irregular, and at best what he earns is not enough to cover our basic needs. But I can't leave my five kids alone especially Layla who needs constant care and assistance to do her daily activities," her mother commented. "We don't have relatives here in Jordan to support us and we have no access to our relatives in Iraq, but we survive on occasional little assistance from our neighbors as well as from aid programs such your appreciated program," she concluded.

Although Layla's physical limitations cannot be overcome, education and proper care improve her quality of life. Early childhood interventions, screening for common problems, and vocational training, in addition to conducive family environment would improve the overall development of Layla.

"Since we enrolled Layla last year in this special school, we noticed significant improvement in Layla's receptiveness," said Layla's mother. "Now, she always smiles and we noticed improvement in her weight and more willingness to eat," she added.

I asked Layla's mother what the family most in need of. "Despite our terrible economic condition, I will do all I can to give Layla the opportunity to improve her overall development and her quality of life. She deserves to be given this opportunity. I will do all I can to keep her in this special school and provide her with the best environment at home which is vital to improve her overall development," Layla's mother responded. "Her monthly school tuition is $100 which covers the transportation since the school is not in Zarqa but in Amman. She also requires baby napkins, powdered milk, easy to swallow food, and I want to bring for her a clip-on chair," she concluded.

My colleagues continued the formal at-home needs assessment with Layla’s mother and the prioritization of their needs, while I sat with Layla playing with her and her ten-years-old sister Mariam who help her mother taking care of Layla, and her seven-years-old brother Yousef who was busy eating some the sweets we brought with us. HCI will provide individualized relief aid for those vulnerable Iraqi refugees with disability such as food and nutritional aid, basic home maintenance/appliances that contribute to accessibility and mobility as well as capacity for independent living, and essential medical equipments for people with disability.

I concluded my visit more convinced that HCI’s individualized support is a necessity. The need for at-home support and other one-to-one type of assistance by experienced social workers combined with individualized relief aid for Iraqi refugees with disability, particularly children and youth, is essential.

Helping people one person at a time: the case of Rahma

2008-07-16T11:44:00.005+03:00

Rahma Kouzah, age twenty months, has a severely deformed skull and her eyes bulge out. She lives with her mother Samia and her brother Ahmed age 6 years in Zarqa, Jordan's second largest city, in small rented but untenable house lacking basic amenities. Her parents, from Palestinian origins, fled the conflicts in Baghdad in 2006 to Jordan. However, her father, who used to work as electrician in Iraq, has been deported from Jordan because he lacks legal residency and is now unemployed and living in the West Bank unable to unite with his family. Her mother, Samia, is neither Jordanian, nor technically an Iraqi. So she has no access to public or government services and her son Ahmed can't attend public schools.

Samia, with a non-stop smile, does not benefit from any assistance by aid agencies targeting Iraqi refugees (since she is technically not Iraqi) neither from assistance targeting Jordanians (since she is not Jordanian) nor from assistance targeting Palestinian refugees (since her husband is not registered with the UNRWA). For this reason, Samia told me that she is surviving on occasional little assistance from her neighbors as well as from programs such as HCI's new program in Zarqa.

Samia told me that she feels "sheltered" when HCI team visit her. I asked her why? She responded that she feels she is forgotten in her tiny house, but HCI team makes her feel being taken cared of. "Every time HCI team visit me or call me, they give me hope and I feel secure and not forgotten," Samia commented with a heartbreaking smile. "They come and sit with me on the ground asking me about not only my needs but more importantly my concerns and my hope. They make me feel optimistic in my difficult situation," Samia added. "They come and play with my disabled daughter, who I fear taking her out because people does not want to admit she exists and aid agencies refuse to see her, and many do not recognize her as human," Samia concluded looking at her daughter who sat on the couch quietly looking at us.

Rahma's mother suspects radioactive materials used in bombs in Iraq caused the deformities. Rahma sleeps at night with her eyes open bulged out because of the deformity, as she is still in Iraq afraid from bombs.

I asked Samia what the family most in need of. "I am badly in need of my daughter's basic supplies, such as milk, baby food, baby napkins, and more importantly I need a clip-on push chair for her that can conceal her face so I can take her out without raising the fear of my neighbors, particularly kids," Samia responded. "When I take her out, people on the street look at me as I am carrying a non-human," Samia added.

We left Samia's apartment accompanied by her 6-year-old son Ahmed who is hoping to attend a school later this year.

Kouzah family is one of the beneficiaries of HCI's new program in Zarqa with an objective to enhance the standard of living of vulnerable refugees coming from Iraq, particularly persons with mental and physical impairment, female-headed households, elderly and children. HCI will provide individualized relief aid for those vulnerable Iraqis refugees with disability such as food and nutritional aid, basic home maintenance/appliances that contribute to accessibility and mobility as well as capacity for independent living, and essential medical equipments for people with disability.

I got in the car and I started to assess our approach and why Samia's family who is with no doubt one of the most vulnerable families in Zarqa has not had access to services by aid agencies yet other than HCI: what makes HCI different and efficient is its exceptional at-home individualized support and individualized relief aid. We reach vulnerable people, listen to them, identify with them their needs on the ground, and provide them with such individualized relief support. It may take more resources but this what HCI is for: helping people one person at a time.