Walid al-Hattab cooks soup for poor locals during Ramadan at al-Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City April 2, 2023. In the al-Nuseirat refugee camp of the besieged coastal Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip, Amjad Majdalawi and his friends prepare about 150 meals for poor families every day during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
GAZA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- In the al-Nuseirat refugee camp of the besieged coastal Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip, Amjad Majdalawi and his friends prepare about 150 meals for poor families everyday during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Majdalawi is a local initiator of a mobile charity program that was launched three years ago by a group of young men to help needy families.
"Every day, we move from one place to another to prepare meals, which include meat, vegetables and some sweets. We give them to families that cannot provide their children with enough food," said Majdalawi.
During Ramadan, Muslims generally observe a strict daily fast from dawn to sunset. When the night falls, people break their long-hour fast with delicious dishes and sweets.
However, growing poverty and soaring food prices have deprived many Gazans of enjoying such annual traditions, said Samir Abu Modalala, a Gaza-based economist.
"Gazans live under straitened and complex circumstances, due to the Israeli blockade and the internal division between Fatah and Hamas, which deteriorated the economic situation in the territory," Abu Modalala told Xinhua.
To help Gazans to have a happy Ramadan, dozens of local residents decided to take the matters into their hands by giving food and money to poor families during the month. Dozens of charitable initiatives have been launched in Gaza Strip over the past few years.
Along with nine other volunteers, Fadi Khalil, a resident of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, distributes food boxes to the families of local cancer and renal failure patients.
"The patients cannot work to make a living. We provide them with the basic goods, including sugar, rice, meat, tea, oil, and others, for their dinner iftar," Khalil, who is in his 30s, told Xinhua.
In addition, Khalil and his team provided some families with battery-powered lamps so they could keep their homes lit in case the electricity went out.
"So far, at least 2,000 families have benefited from the initiative since Ramadan started," Khalil noted, adding that "the initiative is not sufficient to meet the needs of all the poor in our region, but it contributes to somewhat alleviating their sufferings."
For the past 10 years, 60-year-old Walid al-Hattab has cooked soup for the poor families during Ramadan in the poverty-stricken al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza city. The "Garisha" soup has minced wheat, lamb, and onions.
Every day, he provides food for about 60 families, each with an average of seven members.
"It is not only about cooking food for poor families, but also about strengthening the social relations between the local people who live in the same neighborhood," al-Hattab said.
Majdalawi, Khalil, and al-Hattab all depend on the funds provided by local and foreign businessmen who prefer to remain anonymous.
In Gaza, poverty rates among the local population reached 64 percent, food insecurity rates rose to 70 percent, and unemployment rates hit 50 percent, according to official statistics issued by the Commerce Chamber in Gaza in January 2023.
"During the 30-day Ramadan month, the coastal enclave used to witness a significant increase in the number of initiatives to help the families as the donors usually double their financial donations," said Zaki Mdoukh, the head of a 40-member initiative in Gaza.
"We have received about 2.5 million U.S. dollars to carry out dozens of programs to help families in Ramadan," he said.
Ensaf Dohan, a 64-year-old mother of seven, praised the charitable initiatives. "Thanks to the charitable initiatives, I can take some meat and sweets to prepare meals for my family." ■
Walid al-Hattab (1st R) distributes soup for children during Ramadan at al-Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City April 2, 2023. In the al-Nuseirat refugee camp of the besieged coastal Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip, Amjad Majdalawi and his friends prepare about 150 meals for poor families every day during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
