On the eve of the 8th day of the Mission and as a stream of emails pour into my Inbox, of the various accounts and reactions, that our medical team in Gaza is experiencing - I begin to piece-by-piece understand the entirety of the Palestinian experience.
Amongst the stories of conflict -and while listening to and hearing about the inadequate medical resources and the shortage of basic needs - you begin to comprehend the level of poverty that Gazans are living under.
Not just any type of poverty - an overwhelming level - reports say that close to 80% of the community is under the poverty line. What that means is that there are a great number of individuals who are unable to provide food, shelter, clothes and other basic needs to there families.
But there seems to be a very unorthodox cause for this poverty. This is not a poverty due to a lack of economic prosperity because of mishandled credit loans by banks or ill doings by corporate CEOs. This is a byproduct of being segregated, isolated and deprived of resources.
Poverty makes international aid even more valuable as it is the only commodity in the region that can directly help in the rehabilitation. Aid arrives in warehouses in Gaza - seven to be exact and is categorized and disseminated to different medical centers and institutions across the region. IMANA visited two of the seven warehouses today and our team reports that the system is apparently working and aid is presumably being distributed.
Although we have reported that aid is trickling to the region - there is still an urgent need for additional supplies and goods for Gaza. Along with the injured and wounded, the epidemic of poverty inflicts all Gazans. We need to do all that we can to make sure we combat the ills of those that have fallen wounded, as well as win the fight against the poverty of circumstance.
Mansoor Khadir is assisting remotely from the United States, the American Medical Mission to Gaza.
Amongst the stories of conflict -and while listening to and hearing about the inadequate medical resources and the shortage of basic needs - you begin to comprehend the level of poverty that Gazans are living under.
Not just any type of poverty - an overwhelming level - reports say that close to 80% of the community is under the poverty line. What that means is that there are a great number of individuals who are unable to provide food, shelter, clothes and other basic needs to there families.
But there seems to be a very unorthodox cause for this poverty. This is not a poverty due to a lack of economic prosperity because of mishandled credit loans by banks or ill doings by corporate CEOs. This is a byproduct of being segregated, isolated and deprived of resources.
Poverty makes international aid even more valuable as it is the only commodity in the region that can directly help in the rehabilitation. Aid arrives in warehouses in Gaza - seven to be exact and is categorized and disseminated to different medical centers and institutions across the region. IMANA visited two of the seven warehouses today and our team reports that the system is apparently working and aid is presumably being distributed.
Although we have reported that aid is trickling to the region - there is still an urgent need for additional supplies and goods for Gaza. Along with the injured and wounded, the epidemic of poverty inflicts all Gazans. We need to do all that we can to make sure we combat the ills of those that have fallen wounded, as well as win the fight against the poverty of circumstance.
Mansoor Khadir is assisting remotely from the United States, the American Medical Mission to Gaza.
