MIDDLE EAST CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE

1101 8th Street

Berkeley, CA 94710

www.mecaforpeace.org

info@mecaforpeace.org

(510) 548-0542

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The Maia Pro je c t : The Beginning

 

A Representat ive f rom the Student Parl iament at Burei j Boys ’ Elementary School speaking at the opening ceremony o f the Maia Projec t ’ s f i r s t c l ean water unit . At le f t , Dr. Mona El Farra, MECA’s Direc tor o f

Gaza Projec ts , and Jos ie Shie lds -Stromsness , MECA’s Program Direc tor . (Afaq Jadeeda Assoc ia t ion)

 

n 2008, Dr. Mona El Farra, the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) Gaza Project Director went to the Bureij Boys’ Elementary School in a Gaza refugee camp and asked the students what MECA could do to help their school. Two days later, after the school’s Student Parliament met and voted, they told Dr. El

Farra that what they wanted more than anything was to be able to have a glass of clean water to drink at school.

When Dr. El Farra and MECA learned of the students’ vote, they committed to starting a project to provide clean water to school children across Gaza. Dr. El Farra identified a local engineering company in Gaza and hired them to design and build a reverse osmosis (RO) water purification and desalination unit at the United Nations-run Bureij Boys’ Elementary School and a nearby girls’ school. Since that time, MECA, along with its Gaza partner, Afaq Jadeeda (“New Horizons”) Association, has completed 37 RO units at schools in Gaza, providing clean, safe drinking water for approximately 40,000 children.

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Credit: Mohammed Majdalawi

Sally (standing), a 10-year-old student in Gaza speaks at a school meeting. She has kidney problems so her mother used to send her to school each day with a bottle of filtered water. Now that her school has a Maia unit Sally says “I don’t carry a bottle of clean water anymore because it is heavy on my shoulder and it wasn’t nice that I couldn’t share it with other girls.”

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The Maia Pro j e c t : Br ing ing Clean Water to the Chi ldren o f Pales t ine

In September 2009, MECA launched the Maia Project (Arabic for “water”), to enhance the lives and well-being of Palestinian children. Since the installation of its first two reverse osmosis (RO) units, funds have been raised for 40 additional Maia units throughout the Gaza Strip, aiming to safeguard a most basic human right for tens of thousands of children—access to clean and safe drinking water.1

MECA works closely with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which manages most schools in Palestinian refugee camps. Every few months, UNRWA presents MECA with a list of schools prioritized by greatest need. Dr. Mona El-Farra, along with the Afaq Jadeeda (“New Horizons”) Association, one of MECA’s non-governmental partner organizations, oversees and coordinates the work of a local engineering company.

RO units are manufactured and installed by Abdul Salam Yaseen Company, which employs Gaza professionals. Eighty percent of the parts and materials for the units are available in Gaza. The units meet a vital need in the absence of adequate water infrastructure in Gaza, and will last for decades.

                                                                                                                         1 Article 24, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2 September 1990, <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm>

Kindergarten children drinking clean water from a newly installed reverse osmosis (RO) Unit.

(A faq Jadeeda A ssociation)

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The Maia Pro j e c t Goals : wTo improve the immediate and long-term health of Palestinian children by installing water purification and desalination units in all 238 UN elementary and middle schools in Gaza refugee camps and at least 250 community kindergartens.

wTo lay the groundwork for water and sanitation infrastructure by installing units that can later be incorporated into sustainable systems.

wTo support the local economy by contracting a company that employs people in Gaza, where the unemployment rate is 40% and 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.

wTo build partnerships with people and organizations tackling the global water crisis.

What makes the Maia Pro j e c t unique?

ð The Maia Project serves children in refugee camps who have limited access to other resources. Other organizations are installing water systems in schools but none are specifically focusing on refugee camps.

ð By placing water units across schools, rather than a central water unit for a refugee camp or village, the Maia Project increases the likelihood of providing children and their families access to clean water, in case of another military attack that hits water processing plants or makes travel difficult for days, weeks or months.

ð The Maia Project is a collaboration between a local, grassroots community organization Afaq Jadeeda, the United Nations, and the Middle East Children’s Alliance – bringing together the best of local and international knowledge, resources, relationships, and practices.

ð The Maia Project installs units that rely on materials that are largely local to Gaza, thereby reducing the chances of not being able to provide the units due to the blockade that prevents materials from getting into Gaza with ease or consistency.

ð The Maia Project works with a company that manufactures, installs and maintains the units through local labor, thus contributing to the local economy.

ð The Maia Project educates people in the United States about the water crisis in Gaza and partners with communities in raising funds for the units, thereby promoting people-to-people direct aid.

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“The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity.” –UN Human Rights Council

“To combat disease and malnutrition, within the framework of primary health care, through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution” –UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 24

Water Is a Human Right

United Nations Recognition of the Right to Water

On September 30, 2010, the UN Human Rights Council affirmed for the first time that the right to drinking water and sanitation was legally binding and linked to existing human rights treaties.

The Council stated that the right to water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living, which is recognized in several international treaties. These include the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to which 160 States are party, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has reached nearly universal ratification.

An estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five die due to diarrhea per year. 88% of these deaths are due to lack of access to clean water and sanitation.

In total, 178 countries from all regions of the world have now recognized the right to water and sanitation at least once in an international resolution or declaration.2 Among the 20 exceptions are Canada, Israel, and Tonga.

Gaza faces one of the most serious water crises on the planet.

                                                                                                                         2 Amnesty International, “UN affirms the right to water and sanitation as legally binding” <http://livewire.amnesty.org/2010/10/12/a-historic-step-as-un-affirms-the-right-to-water-and-sanitation-as-legally-binding/>

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The Water Cris i s in Gaza: A Humanitar ian and Environmenta l Disaster The water crisis in the Gaza Strip is an impending humanitarian and environmental catastrophe of enormous proportions. Background The Gaza Strip is a narrow piece of land along the Mediterranean coast between Israel and Egypt. An area of 139 square miles (360km2), it is considered to be one of the most densely populated areas on earth, with 1.7 million Palestinians living there, 56% of whom are under the age of eighteen. The region of the Gaza Strip is a fragile ecosystem suffering from increasing environmental crises due to escalating population growth and the limited availability of natural resources to support development. Groundwater is, perhaps, the most precious natural resource in the Gaza Strip, as it is the only natural source of fresh water.3 Therefore, groundwater contamination can pose serious health and economic threats to Gaza’s population that relies on this water for drinking, agriculture, and industry uses. During the last few decades, the quality of the groundwater has deteriorated significantly. According to recent United Nations and Amnesty International reports, 90-95% of the water in Gaza is unsuitable for human consumption due to contamination by seawater, sewage, as well as agricultural and industrial waste.4 It is estimated that it will take 25-30 years to replenish Gaza’s aquifer. With 50% of the water flow to the aquifer coming from polluted sources, most—if not all—of the tap water in Gaza has become brackish, i.e. more salty than fresh, and is thus undrinkable.

                                                                                                                         3 Baalousha, H., “Desalination status in the Gaza Strip and its environmental impact.” Desalination 196, 1e12. 2006. 4 Frykberg, Mel. “Gaza’s Water Supply Near Collapse,” Inter Press Service, 09/16/2009

A sewage pond in the middle of a residential area in Beit Lahia, Gaza. (EWA SH-OPT)

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The Water Cris i s in Gaza: A Humanitar ian and Environmenta l Disas ter

The Gaza population is facing a severe water quality problem and associated health threats caused by extremely high levels of nitrates and chlorides. Unable to travel outside of Gaza due to a military blockade, the people of Gaza suffer from the over-abstraction and depletion of the coastal aquifer in the region due to increasing demand and limited supply.

Chloride

Seawater intrusion causes high levels of chloride (Cl-). In 2008, Cl- levels as high as 2650 mg/L were recorded in Gaza wells, more than 10 times the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible level of 250 mg/L. Water meeting the WHO chloride standard was found in less than 5% of sample wells in that study.5 The high chloride levels in Gaza’s water can result in kidney disease, heart failure, neurological symptoms, lethargy, and high blood pressure.

Nitrate

The lack of adequate sanitation infrastructure in Gaza causes seepage of wastewater into the aquifer. The limited amount of farm land to provide for a dense population also contributes to agricultural practices in which heavy amounts of fertilizer are used in the depleted soil. High levels of nitrate, which most commonly enter drinking water through contamination by sewage or fertilizers, are particularly dangerous to children. A life-threatening disease called methaemoglobinemia or “Blue Baby Syndrome” occurs when nitrate enters the blood stream and reduces the blood cell’s capacity for carrying oxygen.6 It is often fatal and children affected will exhibit a bluish color around the mouth, hands and feet. Other symptoms include difficulty breathing, vomiting and diarrhea. Some parts of the Gaza Strip have levels of nitrate as high as 500 mg/L—more than ten times the permissible level in the US. The average nitrate level of Gaza is a skyrocketing 300 mg/L.

A Generation Under Threat

Beyond the health dangers associated with nitrates and chloride, a high percentage of Gaza’s children have become ill from water-borne microbes. “An outbreak of Hepatitis A and parasitic infections could occur at any time,” according to a WHO representative in Gaza. “Already the number of people, especially children, suffering from diarrhea has risen dramatically.”7

As is the case with any poverty-stricken area, children in Gaza depend on water for their intake of calcium and other important minerals required for growth. As a new generation of children in Gaza approach adulthood, the water crisis may be one of the greatest threats to their survival—and to the future of Gaza and Palestine overall.

                                                                                                                         5 Shomar, B., Abu Fakher, S., & Yahya, A. (2010). Assessment of groundwater quality in the Gaza Strip, Palestine using GIS Mapping. Journal of Water Resource and Protection,2, 93–11 6 See Environmental Protection Agency, Drinking Water Contaminants List <http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm> 7 Frykberg, Ibid.  

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The Water Fi l t rat ion and Desal inat ion Process

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) has raised funds to sponsor 42 reverse osmosis (RO) units in schools throughout the Gaza Strip. Large units are for UNRWA schools and small units are for kindergartens.

The Water Units

The Brackish Water Desalination and Decontamination units from the Gaza-based Abdul Salam Yaseen Company come in two sizes. A small one is installed in preschools and kindergartens, and serves 150-400 children, with a cost of $4,000. A large unit is installed in UN schools, and serves 1,500-2,000 students, costing $11,500.

Nitrates, Chlorides, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

The Maia Project’s reverse osmosis (RO) units are currently designed to treat brackish water, i.e. water that is more salty than fresh. The table below lists the dangerous chemicals and their levels that presently contaminate Gaza’s drinking water. Nitrate, which most commonly enters drinking water through contamination by fertilizers and sewage, is particularly deadly to children. Water in Gaza has nitrate levels as high as 500 mg/L in some places.

After being treated with reverse osmosis, the water is then sent to an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection unit. In addition, UV light kills pathogens in the water.

Contaminant Gaza Water Levels* US Standard WHO Standard Maia Project Standard

Nitrate Up to 400 mg/L 10 mg/L 50 mg/L 20 mg/L

Chloride Up to 2650 mg/L 250 mg/L 250 mg/L 50 mg/L

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) > 3000 mg/L < 600 mg/L 100 mg/L

 The reverse osmosis (RO) units are designed to meet required standards for nitrate, chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS). The standards set by the Abdul Salam Yaseen Company not only meet, but exceed, standards set by the WHO. Since 80% of the materials used to make these units are found within Gaza, their creation supports the local economy.

A ssembling a large RO unit that will serve 2,000 students in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza.

(A faq Jadeeda A ssociation)

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The Water Fi l t rat ion and Desal inat ion Process

Steps of the Water Purification Process The following numbered steps correspond to the locations on the above figure:

1. Brackish water enters the unit. 2. Water passes through three filters for particle removal: sediment filter and carbon filter. 3. Water is dosed with an anti-scalant to prevent formation of scales in pipes. 4. Water enters a raw water storage tank. 5. Some of the water is then pumped through a high pressure pump. 6. Pressurized water passes through reverse osmosis membranes. 7. Water is disinfected with ultra-violet (UV) radiation. 8. Water enters storage tank, available for use on demand.  

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The Monitor ing and Evaluat ion o f Reverse Osmosis (RO) Units

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) staff in Gaza coordinates the monitoring and maintenance of the water units. Water samples are collected on a quarterly basis and tested by an independent lab for contaminants, bacteria and infectious agents, nitrates and salt. Another important requirement is the re-mineralization of the water to ensure that children in Gaza receive the necessary nutrients such as calcium.

MECA staff members then work with the company installing the units to assure their proper maintenance so that they continue to meet public health standards and remain in full working order. MECA is currently establishing a partnership with a Gaza-based university to design and implement a long-term study to document the impact of clean water on the health and well-being of the children in the schools where units have been installed.

Drinking clean water at A tfaluna Kindergarten in Bureij Refugee Camp, Gaza. (A faq Jadeeda A ssociation)

A n expert checks the quality of the water from an installed Maia Project RO Unit.

(A faq Jadeeda A ssociation)

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Educat ing the Publ i c and Bui ld ing Community Support

The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) has engaged individuals, community groups, and civil organizations throughout the United States and around the world to provide the funds for the construction and installation of water filtration and desalination units in Gaza.

"When a child's first wish is for clean water, the conditions under Israeli occupation become stunningly clear. The Maia Project is a vehicle to respond to the inhumanity and injustice - a simple but concrete way to help that transcends the endless contortions of Middle East politics." -Eva Gordon, Santa Fe Maia Project

“Maia Circles” and Sister Schools

Small groups in Montana, Oregon, Maine, Ohio, Washington and New Mexico and Nebraska have gathered to educate people in their communities about the water crisis in Gaza and to raise funds for one or more units. Maia Circles are generally formed following a presentation by MECA staff. MECA then provides both online and offline tools to support the community work of the Circles and Sister Schools, including a PowerPoint presentation, an organizing toolkit, materials about Palestine’s water crisis, Maia Project outreach materials, a customized information and donation page on our website, and ongoing support from MECA staff.

MECA works with US schools to develop “sister school” relationships with schools in Gaza. Students, parents and school staff are supported to educate their communities and raise funds for a water unit for their sister school. MECA facilitates communication between the children at the schools, including video-conferencing, writing, and art exchanges, as well as discussions on a moderated website with mutual translation.

A student drinks clean water from a newly-installed Maia Project water unit funded by a community in New

Mexico. (Naaman Omar)

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Maia Murals Project

The Maia Mural Brigade is organized by Break the Silence Mural and Arts Project with support from MECA. The project brings together a national team that includes: activists, trauma therapists, muralists, filmmakers. The ESTRIA Foundation’s Water Writes Project, Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project and Afaq Jadeeda (“New Horizons”) Association create collaborative murals with Palestinian youth and artists. The murals are located at schools in the Gaza Strip where water purification systems installed by MECA are providing clean drinking water.

 

This summer, traveling to the Gaza Strip with the Maia Mural Brigade and Water Writes Crew I was able to work with amazing artists and community workers to paint murals about water. In a place where 1.7 million people are held without freedom of movement and 95% of the ground water is contaminated, water is being withheld as collective punishment and being polluted to the detriment of the entire planet. ~Nancy Hernandez, activist and muralist

The MAIA Mural Brigade, a joint project of Break the Silence Mural and Art Project and the Middle East Children's Alliance is a perfect example of the best that can happen when art and activism come together. The project allows for international solidarity, a direct response to needs and interests on the ground in Palestine and then the bringing back stories of Palestinian life and the experience of direct solidarity to new audiences in the USA; connecting and building across movements. For example, since returning the MAIA Mural Brigade has given close to 20 talks and presentations in communities that are not already involved in the issue, touching new hearts and minds.

~Susan Greene, founder Break the Silence Mural Project

Appendices

The Global Drinking Water Crisis

• 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population.

• 80 percent of diseases in the developing world are caused by contaminated water.

• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water related illnesses.

• Water and sanitation crises claim more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

• International development assistance addresses only a fraction of the urgent need for basic water and sanitation services. It is estimated that, in 2004, only US$4billion in overseas development assistance was provided to meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) around water, versus a projected need of approximately US$10billion annually for basic water and sanitation services and an additional US$15-20billion annually to provide a higher level of service and to maintain existing services.

• Tens of millions of children miss school in order to fetch water every day. Dropout rates for adolescent girls skyrocket once they hit puberty as there are no private sanitation facilities at their schools.

Source: Blue Planet Network (These statistics are generally accepted by United Nation, World Health Organization and Millennium Development Goals.)

2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every

year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate

sanitation and poor hygiene: 6,000 children die every day

If we did nothing other than provide access to clean water, without any other medical intervention, we could save 2 million lives a year.

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November 20, 2011 Dear Friend of Children,

Here in Gaza, we are thirsty. Water is life, but here in Gaza it can also bring disease and death. The tap water in Gaza is undrinkable due to its bad quality and contamination. At best, when we have access to a running tap, the water is not clean and is very salty. Our daily water consumption averages around 78 liters a day per person, while Israelis average over 300 liters each, more than four times as much.

Numerous military attacks on the Gaza Strip have devastated Gaza’s water infrastructure. Hundreds of wells have been destroyed, and millions of dollars of damage has been done to Gaza’s water and wastewater treatment facilities. The blockade prevents the entry of parts for repair and maintenance, and fuel for continuous operation. Since 2009, the Maia Project has been working with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), to install locally-made water purification and desalination units in schools in Gaza’s refugee camps. UNRWA provides assistance for 4.7 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Aiden O’Leary, Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, expressed his total appreciation for the Maia Project and stressed that providing clean drinking water to children is among the highest priorities and needs for Gaza schools. UNRWA’s former Director of Operations in Gaza, John Ging, also expressed his admiration for the project. We are working to help the children as quickly as we can. Children in Gaza will have the chance to drink clean and soft water, but only at the rate in which we can implement the Maia Project. And we race against time. The UN estimates that Gaza will have no drinking water in the next 15 years. The mail goal of the Maia Project is to have a positive impact on children’s health. In Gaza, there is no issue more fundamental to the health and survival of our young people, than water access. Here in Gaza, we are still thirsty – for water and for human rights. Sincerely, [Mona sig.] Mona El-Farra, MD MECA Director of Gaza Projects

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The Willits News

May 25, 2011 ��� Willits siblings raise $4,000 for water filtration system

Maureen Moore/TWN Staff Writer Willits siblings raise $4,000 for water filtration system "We want clean drinking water" was the answer from Palestinian children when asked what they wanted for their school. The Middle Eastern Children's Alliance decided to give them just that, and started the MAIA ("water" in Arabic) Project to fundraise with citizens around the world to build water filtration systems so clean water will be available for anywhere from 150 to 2,000 children.

Two of Willits' own, brother and sister Omar, 13, and Nayema, 11, Sisemore heard about the efforts of the MAIA Project and decided to help the cause. "My brother and I started our fundraising after we attended a peace march in San Francisco when Israel invaded Gaza in 2009," explained Nayema. "We saw people carrying pictures of babies and children being killed for no reason at all. "We also saw on TV a lot of bombing of schools, homes, hospitals, and many people dying. This made us very sad to see these pictures and we wanted to do something for the children of Gaza. So we asked our mom if we could place a donation jar in our store, Earth's Treasures, and we started collecting money for the children of Gaza. We raised awareness in our community. When people asked what the project was about we explained to them about the situation in Palestine. "Initially we raised about $1,560 dollars. We were trying to find a way to send it to a school or hospital in Gaza, but found it difficult to get the money to them. We heard about the MAIA Project through the MECA, bringing clean water to the children of Palestine, and we decided to donate and put our efforts towards that project." In April of the following year, Nayema attended an Arab Woman's Conference and gave a speech about the two's fundraising efforts. A donation jar as was also passed through the conference, raising an additional $360. The following month, another $970 was raised at a U.S. Palestinian Community Network meeting where the siblings presented information about the project. That summer, Omar and Nayema held another fundraiser in front of the family shop, selling lemonade, hot dogs and cookies to passers-by. By the end of the year, the two had raised $4,000, contacted MECA and mailed them the check, allowing them to build a water project for a school in Gaza. "Again, we want to thank everyone who contributed at the events we attended, and all the individuals who donated at our business," said Nayema. "We are looking for individuals or businesses to match our contribution in building additional water systems for schools in Gaza." ���(c) 2011 The Willits News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.

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This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.

WEEKEND EDITION OCTOBER 15-17, 2010 Biddun Maia, Fish Heyya

Without Water, There is No Life by ZIAD ABBAS Since I started working at Middle East Children’s Alliance, the MAIA Project to bring clean water to the children of Palestine has become closest to my heart. All of our projects are important for people in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, but the MAIA Project is connected to my history and my family. It takes me back to the days when I struggled with my family to bring clean water to our house so we could drink, cook and, sometimes, have a shower. My mother, sisters and I would carry gallons of water in heavy containers on our heads. Providing this essential for our family made my mother physically strong, her arms and shoulders shaped by her efforts, but her health suffered greatly. Much work and time is required to achieve the basic necessity of clean water. I still remember the weight of the water and the great responsibility on our necks and backs everyday.

Israel controls and uses 89% of the water resources in the West Bank, leaving 11% for the 2.5 million Palestinians. The Israeli Occupation continues to limit Palestinian access to clean water as form of collective punishment by controlling the water resources and distribution and by destroying the water that we are able to get. During Israeli military incursions, and especially during curfews, when we could not leave our homes, Israeli soldiers would shoot the water storage tanks on our roofs. Our water would pour down the sides of our buildings unused.

During the recent attack on Gaza, Israel targeted the entire water infrastructure including the largest water purification system in Gaza. They also targeted electrical generators that supported water purification and sewage treatment. This kind of collective punishment is also used against Palestinians inside Israel. Palestinian villages “unrecognized” by the Israeli state are not connected to the national water grid that serves all Jewish communities, and the residents suffer from a lack of clean water.

In 1994 and 2001 I visited Black townships in South Africa. When the inhabitants in the townships explained their daily lives, they focused on the scarcity and difficulty in obtaining clean water. Water, they said, was only for the white people of South Africa. I immediately understood and thought that we could substitute Palestinian refugee camps for the South African townships. It is the same system of oppression. During apartheid access to public spaces, especially public beaches, was restricted according to race. The beautifully maintained beaches were accessible only for the white people.

This is the same situation found in Palestine now. Israel severely restricts our access to the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and Lake Tiberias. Palestinians are forced to apply for permits from the Israelis to access these sites, even for a simple visit. Even when limited access is allowed, such as in Gaza, the coastline is often flooded with untreated sewage as a result of damage

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done by Israeli bombardments.

As I was writing this article, I spoke with Dr. Mona El-Farra, MECA’s Project Director in Gaza. We were discussing the current water situation and she was saying that the tap water in her apartment was unusable. She said “Ziad, the water here is polluted and undrinkable, more than that it is unusable for cleaning. Some people have started to lose their hair from showering with this water. The new business in Gaza is selling clean water from tanks around the city. Of course it is expensive and since few people are employed they cannot buy the water. People here are constantly sick from the lack of clean water.” She added that as a doctor she is seeing an increase in kidney disease, dysentery and other serious medical conditions related to polluted water. If people are lucky enough to survive the Israeli air strikes and sniper fire they go on to face the threat of dirty, dangerous water.

Images from Gaza show water tanks driven around the cities, people waiting in lines for water, and children carrying empty water containers searching for water to fill them. Children in Gaza are missing their childhood. They are defined as children by their age but they live as survivors, not as children. They are taking responsibility to protect themselves and their families. When I was a child in a refugee camp in the West Bank, our struggle to obtain basic necessities to survive was the same. Thirty-five years later, Palestinian children are still forced to grow up too soon.

The Middle East Children’s Alliance is working to support the rights of children, particularly the right of Palestinian children to survive and flourish. In the last two years, MECA’s Maia Project has succeeded in building 22 water purification systems in primary schools and kindergartens giving nearly 25,000 children access to clean water. As a result, thousands of mothers will feel less frightened that their children might be harmed by polluted water. Dr. El-Farra has witnessed the precious moments of accomplishment and pride when a new unit is installed.

MECA’s Maia Project seeks to expand to all the schools in Gaza so more children can realize their right to clean water. In South Africa apartheid has ended, but water injustice is still something the inhabitants of the Black townships and other marginalized communities struggle against on a daily basis. In Palestine, we are still struggling against the Israeli apartheid system that deprives us of our basic human rights, including the right to one of the most important things in life: Water.

ZIAD ABBAS works for the Middle East Children’s Alliance.