Helping the children of Gaza – 15 November 2024
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal on 17 October, and thanks to the incredibly generous UK public it has raised over £29 million in just three weeks!
Majdi Fathi/Christian Aid
Celebrity and royal support
Individuals, companies, schools, religious and community groups rallied to support the appeal after artists Adjoa Andoh, David Morrissey, Myleene Klass (pictured below) and Ruth Wilson launched the appeal across TV and radio channels.
Their Majesties The King and Queen were among the first to donate to the appeal. Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess of Wales have also donated.
DEC
How DEC funds are helping
More than three million people have had to flee their homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. DEC member charities are responding there to provide lifesaving food, water, shelter, medicine and other vital aid.
Many DEC-funded projects have children at the heart of them and aim to give pupils a chance to learn and give them some respite (a short time of rest) from the heaviness and trauma around them.
Clowns visit the camps
Christian Aid is working with its partner CFTA to give displaced children some fun. Clowns entertain children
in the camps in Gaza and bring a much-needed smile
to their faces.
Katie Roxburgh, Christian Aid’s Programme Manager for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, said: “Children in Gaza have experienced horrors no child should. Through the art classes and entertainment sessions run by clowns that our partners are delivering, they are given – for a fleeting moment – the chance to be just children again. The impact is enormous, and with more funds we could help many more children.”
Majdi Fathi/Christian Aid
A place to learn
Many children in Gaza have been out of school for over a year, as their schools have been destroyed, turned into shelters, or they’ve had to move away. Islamic Relief has set up nine temporary classrooms in shelters in Gaza City and central Gaza and one outside a shelter. They are providing stationery and recreational kits to the children to help them continue to learn.
Islamic Relief
This is the story of the girl in the campaign photo
Look at the photo below – it shows Aaliyah* holding her daughter near the site of their old home.
Aaliyah said: “We had a house that was demolished in February and now we live in a tent near the rubble of our home. I always find my daughter sitting by the rubble, crying, and she only calms down when she sits there.”
Now Aaliyah depends entirely on aid to feed her family.
If you or your school would like to fundraise, you can find out more at dec.org.uk
*Names have been changed to protect identities
