By Janet Zimmerman
The horrendous crimes that were perpetrated by Israel have left hundreds of families destitute. Many are faced with no other option but to live in one of the many tent camps scattered throughout the rubbles of Gaza. These tents offer only limited protection from the elements, and those who live in them are given nothing but blankets and an inadequate food supply. The children that live here suffer from malnutrition and trauma. Their childlike dreams have turned into nightmares, and their nights are flooded by involuntary urination as they wake themselves by their own petrified screams. Many have witnessed the death of a parent, and their innocence is lost.
Project Life: World Orphan Rehabilitation Program has aided child victims of natural disaster and war since 1997. It is an intensive, volunteer-based program that works to restore the lost childhood of innocent victims of disaster. My presence in Palestine has led to the birth of a new chapter based in the Gaza Strip due to the immense sufferings brought on by the Israeli massacre.
Ten children, ages 9-12, will be welcomed into the homes of local families in the peaceful countryside of Western New York where they will benefit from a therapeutic program of education and recreational activities. They will get a chance to just be kids again, free from the anxieties of war. By the end of the program, the children return home to their families with a dramatic transformation. They carry a new sense of hope and happiness that was not present prior to their summer abroad.
Project Life is a non-profit organization, and therefore we need your help. Your contribution will help cover the children’s expenses, so please donate today and help restore these children’s lost lives. Your generous donation is a step towards aiding the children of Gaza whose childhoods were stolen for a reason they never committed. They were the only losers out of this fierce and deadly war, and our humanity urges us to intervene and bring them out of this mayhem. This is your opportunity to contribute in the efforts to help save the Palestinian children. It cannot be done without you.
(For more information, please take a look at our website at: www.worldlifeinstitute.org/projlife.htm. Also visit our donation page at: www.worldlifeinstitute.org/clickto_donations.html)
– Janet Zimmerman is a photojournalist and a child relief worker. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Contact her at: jntzimmerman@gmail.com.
