Archives For Gaza Strip

Cycling4Gaza and the PCRF joined forces this year for the launch of the Gaza mental healthcare project.

Here are a few snippits of information regarding the project:

  1. Check out the video below to get some insight on the project. Ghozlan, one of the children from the screening tells her story and her subsequent experience in the mental wellness summer camps in Gaza this summer.

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  2. Dr Bahar Hashemi, a pediatric psychiatrist based in the U.S., visited Gaza in order to develop the Gaza Mental Health Project in collaboration with the PCRF, CMBM and C4G. A Few Words from Bahar: “These two miracles, Yamen and Janna were pulled out of the rubble after their three level family home collapsed last year killing 19 of their family members, including their entire immediate family. They are now living with their uncle’s family in central Gaza. Their uncles wife was so happy to talk about yamans experience at the mental wellness summer camps, saying it was like “magic.” bringing joy to him and lifting his mood. In addition to some of the most beautiful kindest souls, I have been blown away by some of the most incredible mothers I have come across here in Gaza. When one of Yamans cousins teased him about not coming out of his mothers womb, he went to his uncles wife and asked if this was true. She said to him, yes that’s true but you both came out of my heart, and that is all that matters.”

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  3. The valiant effort to heal ‘unimaginable’ levels of trauma among Gaza’s children – Annie Robbins, Mondoweiss – “As the devastation in Gaza continues unabated, teams of medical professionals work to combat the psychological impact on children raised in that densely populated and blockaded human laboratory. Many of those children have already lived through 3 major military offenses. I saw a photo today of some of those beautiful kids — visiting the graves of their fathers and brothers killed in Gaza during the summer slaughter of 2014 — and wondered how those kids were holding up.” Thank you Annie for continuing to draw awareness on the current situation in Gaza and the importance of providing support where we can.

  4. The PCRF Team in Gaza continue to work with the children to help alleviate the symptoms of PTSD. The team are a lively, energetic group who are passionate about their work to heal children in the face of such big challenges. As you can imagine, the team members have endured and witnessed unimaginable amounts of trauma and suffering, which has a direct impact on them in varying ways. The need for self-care and support from one another cannot be understated. Here are a few testimonials about their experience in the groups:

    “The skills provided me with serenity I’ve never felt before; meditation filled me with spirituality in my prayers, I felt like it was the first time I actually prayed!” – M.A.

    “It was a great chance for us as PCRF staff to know each other, the iceberg between us is destroyed and we can communicate and work with a new positive spirit.” – M.F

    “I’m pleased to be a part of such new, unique, and sophisticated training. I was able to discover my feelings. I’m ready to face problem and solve them. I needed this training; it helped me avoid negative thoughts and recharged me with cheerful thinking.” – A.G.

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Check out our first newsletter of 2014!

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This issues includes:

– A video from Steve Sosebee, the President and CEO of the PCRF

– A word from Tamara Ben Halim, Cycling4Gaza’s co-founder

– A story from Rami Zughayer, our first Palestinian cyclist from the West Bank, about the Germany cycle

– Updates on the REACH Gaza project from Zara Hannoun, lead organiser for Cycling4Gaza

2013 Newsletter

Zara Hannoun —  June 20, 2013

Hey Everyone!

Check out our 2013 Newsletter

You can sign up for our 2013 cycling challenge by downloading the registration pack found as a PDF link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Get Moving!

Cycling for a Future

Cycling for a Future

A word from Cycling4Gaza co-founder, Tamara Ben-Halim

Arrival into Istanbul

Dear friends,

This time four years ago, a group of friends in London were frantically recruiting cyclists, organising fundraising events, training on their bikes, and embarking on guerrilla poster-hanging operations around the city. Our mission was to promote an international cycle in support of emergency healthcare work in the Gaza Strip following the 2008-2009 military offensive.  Within weeks, our modest effort had evolved into a 27-strong team of people from all over the world coming together in support of Gaza’s population. Over 3 days in July 2009, we cycled 320km from London to Paris and collectively raised over £90,000 for MAP UK ’s healthcare projects in the region.

Continue Reading…

PCRF’s message

Zara Hannoun —  June 16, 2013

PCRF_Logo_Large

PCRF’s founder Steve Sosebee talks about the REACH project

We are honored to partner with Cycling4Gaza and the many dedicated volunteers from all over the world who support their great deeds. This partnership will enable us to focus on addressing the terrible human crisis facing children in the besieged Gaza Strip.  Our goal in the REACH (Reaching Every Affected Child in Gaza) project is to identify every sick and injured child in Gaza in need of specialized medical care, and to provide them with the surgery that they need but cannot get within the exhausted local healthcare system.

The PCRF was created as a nonprofit, nonpolitical medical relief organization during the first Intifada, by concerned people who were seeking ways to contribute positively to the humanitarian needs of children under Israeli military occupation. Over the past twenty-two years, we have sent over 1,000 children from Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq for free surgery in North and South America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the Middle East.  We have treated over 10,000 children through direct surgery by hundreds of visiting teams from all over the world.The PCRF has field staff and offices throughout the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon to ensure that we are able to identify and support the care of children in need.

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Impact Over 4 Years

Zara Hannoun —  June 16, 2013

MAP photo 2  Sara_Atfaluna

Since 2009, Cycling4Gaza has positively impacted the lives of 5,000 children and 3,000 family members and individuals in the community through projects working in maternal and children’s health, mental and physical disability, psychological care and children’s education.

In 2009, we supported three emergency medical relief projects with MAP UK in response to the 2008-2009 military offensive on Gaza:

•The Emergency Maternal and New-born Healthcare project ensured the safety of mothers and babies through creating an integrated emergency procedure and building the capacity and skills of the staff.

•The Specialist Burns Care training project trained staff to respond to emergency cases and upgraded the ground facilities for the project to function more effectively.

•The Train the Trainers in Primary Care project provided members of the community with skills and knowledge that allowed them to act as effective first responders to give critical first aid intervention within the golden hour of patient injury.

Continue Reading…

2010 Projects

Zara Hannoun —  April 7, 2013

In 2010, Cycling4Gaza’s Pisa to Rome cycle raised £140,000 to implement three projects focused on early childhood development in Gaza. 27 cyclists covered 400km over 4 days, with each kilometre contributing to the progress of these educational projects supported by the Welfare Association:

  1. A School-Based Counselling Programme For Young Children In Gaza, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme –  £33,960
  2. Establishing an Outreach Home-based Early Intervention Programme for Deaf Children (0-5 years of age), Atfaluna – £31,535
  3. Support for Early Childhood Development, Kanafani Kindergartens- £71,765

 

Continue Reading…

2009 Projects

Zara Hannoun —  March 25, 2013

Proactive

The best response to a crisis situation is a pro-active response. Cycling4Gaza was just that. C4G was founded in 2009 as a result of the attacks on Gaza. A group of young enthusiasts believed that the world had a right to know the truth and were inspired to break through their comfort zone in order to achieve this. C4G’s first cycle was a 3 day 300km challenge from London to Paris. The cycle not only raised over £85,000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians UK (MAP UK), but also generated significant momentum; raising awareness to the crisis in Gaza.
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Cycling for peace and humanity

tamara —  November 19, 2012

Join us this Saturday 24th November at 11.15am, 10 Downing Street, for a mass cycle through London in support of Gaza as the violence on its people continues to escalate. We will be cycling alongside an organised peaceful march from Downing Street to High Street Kensington.

Through cycling, we are trying to convey a message of peace and humanity to the world, to remind people that Palestinians in Gaza also deserve the right to a peaceful existence. We hope to see in our lifetime a peaceful Gaza, one that is not separated from the rest of Palestine, where people no longer have to fear death and destruction, can move freely, and are able to live a life of quality and dignity. Until then, we will keep cycling.

We invite you to join us in our efforts – wherever in the world you are. Get in touch with us on cycling4gaza@gmail.com if you also want to cycle for Gaza.

Adnan, one of our cyclists from 2011, shares with us a unique insight into Gaza in the past and present, capturing his childhood years as he grew up under occupation.

Read the published article on Electronic Intifada.

September 2012.

This was my third visit to Gaza, after having visited many interrupted times throughout the past 23 years. I left Gaza at the age of 16 heading to Seattle, Washington, 2 years into the first intifada of 1987. Being a Gazan has always been a challenge, a challenge for its residents, natives, refugees and for its lovers too. Gaza has its magical spell, once you are there for an extended period of time, you can get emotionally absorbed by its coastal easygoing attitude and its softness on strangers, making it very easy to call it home, just like my dad did. And I happen to be a victim of the same spell.
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In its fourth year running, Cycling4Gaza will support Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the first charity we partnered with during our founding year in 2009. MAP is a British charity that has been working to deliver medical care to the most vulnerable Palestinian communities for over 25 years.

Today, the 5-year Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip continues to have a severe impact on Gaza’s education, reconstruction, water, electricity, and healthcare, which remains in a state of emergency (MAP UK). Continue Reading…