John, Becky Platt is a pediatric nurse in the U.K. who recently returned from serving at a Save the Children-supported temporary hospital in Gaza. This is what she had to say about her experience:
*Trigger Warning: The following story features mentions of children in distress and graphic violence*
“When I first arrived in Gaza, I was completely blown away by what I saw. I thought I had been prepared for it by watching the news and looking at photos. But nothing prepares you for what it's actually like to be in Gaza.
“There were decimated buildings all around me and rubble everywhere. Multiple children were crawling over that on their own, hunting through the piles of rubbish, finding things to eat. It's really difficult to get hold of anything at all in Gaza.
“I saw multiple children who'd been injured in bomb blasts. Many of these children had lost one or more limbs. It just feels like your hands are tied when you can't do what could easily be done at home or in another context.
“The psychological distress that I witnessed among children and young people is like nothing I'd ever seen before. They need a huge amount of mental health support. These children have had their lives completely changed. Life today is unrecognizable from what it was before.
“Every day you hear bombs falling and machine gun fire. Often you can feel it because the ground shakes, particularly in the evening and overnight. Bombs were coming over and those moments were terrifying.
“It's very easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers when we watch the news or read about what's happening in Gaza. Remember that each one of those numbers is one person, a child who has been forever changed by what's happened. Then multiply that one child by thousands. That's the work that needs to be done.”
Becky’s story is one of thousands we hear each year from Save the Children humanitarian workers across the globe who are protecting children every single day.
In Sudan, over 10 million children have been exposed to deadly violence since war broke out last April. Nearly 4 million are malnourished, thousands are at risk of disease as the country’s health system has collapsed and every child in the country has had their education disrupted. Our teams are providing health, nutrition and educational services thanks to generous supporters like you.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the rapid spread of the mpox virus is putting a strain on an already-fragile health system that’s still reeling from past outbreaks of Ebola and COVID-19. As this crisis intensifies, our teams are responding with water, sanitation and health services support as well as training communities to identify and report cases.
In these and countless other emergency situations, your support to the Children’s Emergency Fund makes a world of difference for children, John.
Donations to this fund allow Save the Children to adequately prepare for and quickly respond when emergencies strike instead of waiting for funding when children need us most. But crises in Gaza, Sudan, the DRC and throughout the world are depleting the fund, and additional support is urgently needed to power our current and future emergency response efforts.
