Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

Humanity 4 Palestine is supporting MAPs malnutrition program for children aged 0-5 years in Gaza. This program provides nutrition for children and advises their parents about how to give them the best possible nutrition given the circumstances they live in.

For over 30 years, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has been reaching out to Palestinian communities, striving to deliver health and medical care to those worst affected by conflict, occupation and displacement.

Today they have offices in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, Lebanon and London. With their extensive local knowledge and experience, they work closely with communities, hospitals, clinics and healthcare providers to coordinate care and medical aid even where there are severe restrictions on access.

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

Maia Project: Bringing Clean Water to the Children of Palestine
Humanity 4 Palestine has teamed up with MECA to help the Maia Project obtain a new water system that will be built for Rafah Preparatory Boys School & New Rafah School which serves approx. 2200 pupils, including 5 years of water system maintenance.

The Maia Project (Arabic for “water”) works to provide tens of thousands of Palestinian children with clean, safe drinking water by installing water purification and desalination units in schools throughout the Gaza Strip.

In Gaza, 95% of water is unfit for human consumption. Numerous military attacks on the Gaza Strip have devastated its water infrastructure and the ten-year siege of Gaza has created a shortage of pipes, building materials, fuel, and electricity. The water in Gaza is polluted with untreated sewage, agricultural chemicals and it is brackish from seawater. Gaza’s water crisis poses grave health risks to children.

Catharsis Holistic Healing for Child Prisoner in Palestine

Catharsis is a project that aims to provide tools to help former and existing child prisoners alleviate their traumas. The project mainly focuses on girls aged 10-18. Activities include yoga, active meditation, drama sessions and art therapy.

The World Health Organizations says that one-third of children aged 9-18 suffered an average of 4 traumatic events and significant post-traumatic stress reactions. These numbers are higher for girls and mothers.

The project also works with the mothers and the families of these children to help them understand what their children are going through and how they can support them. Catharsis provides families with the coping skills and tools they need to help their children heal their trauma and build healthier families.

Humanity 4 Palestine supported Catharsis to conduct a two day healing retreat from former female child prisoners in the West Bank town of Jericho.

Autism Superhero Palestine

Humanity 4 Palestine is supporting Autism Super hero in their projects in the West Bank and Gaza. The organization aims to create more possibilities for autistic children through education, creative activities and workshops for parents, to educate them about how to engage with their children and learn more about autism, its tendencies and challenges.

Autism Superhero was founded by four mothers of children with autism who had a vision to change the way Palestinian society viewed autistic children and individuals. Their first goal was to create a group chat and reach out to mothers who needed help with their autistic children. At first, they only exchanged expertise, stories, and advice. We met many mothers in Palestine who receive no type of assistance, neither financially nor simple educational awareness on how to handle and deal with their autistic children. Many parents do not feel comfortable and are shy to speak up about their kids’ condition because in Palestinian society it’s shameful to speak proudly about a child with special needs.

Parents have problems finding specialists that could give them an accurate diagnosis and when this happens, they are advised to take their children to autism centres that claim to have specialists. Parents pay around $50 for a 45min visit in these centres and do not get the attention needed in terms of physical, speech, and occupational therapy, plus other services. Also, autistic children in Palestine have no right to education nor to attend school unless parents are willing to pay around $300 monthly for a shadow teacher that usually has no expertise in that field and is only working as a babysitter to watch the child who receives no type of special education whatsoever. Considering the economic difficulties families face in Palestine, many children are deprived of their right to education for these reasons. In addition to this, kids with autism are not listed among individuals with special needs in the Palestinian healthcare system. Therefore, Autism Superhero Palestine decided to speak up!

National Center for Community Rehabilitation (NCCR)

NCCR is an independent and non-profit Palestinian NGO that aims to assist persons with physical disabilities within the Gaza Strip in order to promote their opportunities for independent living, inclusion and the achievement of individual life goals. This is implemented through community-based rehabilitation activities in the fields of home care, capacity building, advocacy and awareness raising programs.

Humanity 4 Palestine is supporting the Home Care program, set up for providing home care for people with physical disabilities by a qualified multidisciplinary medical team that includes a physician, a physiotherapist, a nurse, an occupational therapist and a psychologist – all trained by international experts. The team provides integrated services for PWDs, especially children in homes such as nursing, physical therapy and psychological support services, in addition to training their families on the basics of home care. Moreover, people with disabilities are provided with the necessary medical supplies, assistive devices and occupational therapy services. This program also provides a wide range of therapy sessions, including individual and group psychological support, mind and body therapy, playing, drama and music, and social activities. These services aim to improve the health and psychological status of persons with disabilities to increase their self-confidence and ability to deal with significant life changes and challenges and to alleviate social and psychological burdens on families of children with disabilities.