John, as a mom to a 4-year-old boy, it’s absolutely devastating to hear about the conditions mothers and their children are forced to endure in Gaza.
Things like losing weight in the final months of pregnancy because there isn’t enough to eat. Delivering their babies to the sound of bombs falling. Taking them back to a crowded camp full of disease due to a lack of clean water and hygiene supplies.
As hard as it is to hear these stories, I believe it’s important that we continue to educate ourselves about this crisis and amplify the voices of those trapped within it.
That’s why we’re sharing this voice memo from Sharifa, a midwife with Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit: Please listen to her story now.
Thank you for your partnership in protecting children in Gaza and around the world,
Michelle Sharnick
Save the Children
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Gaza Team @ Save the Children
Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2024
Subject: “The Gaza we see today is no place for a child to be born.”
John, it's estimated that at least 50,000 babies have been born in Gaza over the last 10 months. Born into chaos, violence, displacement and near-famine conditions. No child deserves this.
Women are giving birth in traumatic, unhygienic and undignified conditions without access to basic services. Many mothers and babies have not survived, and those who have managed to deliver their babies safely remain in constant danger.
Rolling power blackouts pose extreme risks to critically ill infants, especially those few who have the chance to be treated in incubators. Mothers and their children are sent back to crowded camps with little access to clean water, putting babies at increased risk of infection and disease.
And with 96% of the population in Gaza facing severe food insecurity, many mothers don’t receive the food or water they need to breastfeed their babies.
Her firsthand account is difficult to listen to, but we believe it’s important that our supporters, and the world at large, understand what’s going on in the country. With so many lives in imminent danger, this is why an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a safe pathway for the increased delivery of humanitarian aid are so important.
After shifting our base of operations from Rafah in May, Save the Children staff are supporting pregnant women, newborns and families at our primary health care center in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. However, this week, relocations orders went out for Deir Al-Balah, so Save the Children staff and many of the humanitarian actors are currently fleeing that area.
Still, with your generous support, we’re providing health and nutrition services, water, sanitation and hygiene support and child protection services. In June, we reached 53,849 people. We are ready to continue to scale up our work as soon as it is safe to do so.
But to truly protect children’s lives, rights and futures, we continue to call for an immediate and definitive ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a safe pathway for the increased delivery of humanitarian aid.
Thank you for your partnership in this critical work, for taking the time to learn more about this crisis today and for all you do to support children around the world. We encourage you to share this email and voice memo with anyone you know who is concerned about the world’s children in this urgent moment, and we will continue to keep you informed.
