OUR "GAZA APPEAL"

URGENT APPEAL

Dear Fellow Lions;

Civilians always pay the price! The devastating results on human life in Gaza did not stop at death; the calamity is with the living! Almost 10,000 people have been injured or maimed for life. The worries that we carry are also for those who were not physically hurt, but psychologically destroyed; what future do these people have? Especially when we are talking about children who lost family members and those who witnessed the enormous devastation around them. We at Lions Club Bethlehem, the only club in Palestine are putting all our efforts in saving those children

Graça Machel reports, “The physical and emotional violence to which they [children] are exposed shatters their world. War undermines the very foundations of children’s lives, destroying their homes, splintering their communities and breaking down their trust in adults.”

In the absence of a strong local system, the support of the international community becomes vital; most of these children will carry these heavy emotional burdens into adulthood

Humanitarian aid generally focuses on the concrete, what we can see, measure, build: Food, medicine, bricks, and mortar. Psychological trauma is invisible.

We need your help!

We identified the right organizations to work with. Our criteria for choosing those organizations are Efficiency, Transparency (including good administrative and financial reporting) and nonpolitical affiliation

We have devised a double entry strategy for assistance, and individual clubs can choose the action that suits their priorities:

1. Urgent need: Assistive devices (Crutches, wheelchairs etc.): the local branch of the Episcopal Church runs The Arab Ahli Hospital in Gaza. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/07/15/gazas-al-ahli-hospital-appeals-for-urgent-help/).   Once bought, we can send the equipment to Gaza after placing the Lions Club logo on each.
2. Longer term: War trauma and Psychosocial support. We have, on board, Gaza’s leading institution in this field: the Gaza Mental Health Foundation (http://www.gazamentalhealth.org/) as well as the Arab Ahli Hospital’s children’s department. Support of any kind will be welcome

Why should you help?

We need your help because we believe that war must end someday. Carrying this heavy burden from one generation to the other is counterproductive. Investing in children, is investing in a brighter future. Inaction is definitely more dangerous; the alternatives are alarming.

Thank you in advance!

We promise to be up to the challenge. We understand that you will be looking forward to our reporting on the activities, complete with photographs and testimonies as well as a comprehensive financial report. We thank you in advance not only for your humanitarian gesture, but more so for sharing with us the belief in a better future.

Please contact us at lionsbethlehem@gmail.com and inform us of the way you would like to help, either in cash transfers or in kind.

Sincerely;

Hani Mourad, President

Lions Club Bethlehem City of Peace