50 Mosques, 17 Hospitals, 50 trucks , many organisations, all of Gaza strip, 500,000 Bottles, ……… and 3 very tired but content volunteers……………..By now, most of you know the Waqaf water 4 Gaza project (http://wp.me/psaGo-IN) and now it’s finally completed……..at least Phase one !!!!
Below you will find a list of many different organisations we delivered to but right now, we want to tell you about Friday’s……..Fridays were special !!
Fridays were our chance to forget quota’s, lists, even Organisations, On Fridays we had the opportunity to get right to the heart of Gaza, to the people of Gaza. The Yazegi group, (the factory producing the bottles), would donate their own truck to us, many of the employee’s of the plant gave up their Friday afternoons to us and we would load up the truck and drive to the border areas or the areas most in need in Gaza, from Rafah in the South to Beit Hanoun in the North and many places in between. Here , we would arrive, unannounced , drive down the sand roads and stop our truck. If no one was around , we would knock on doors to hand in cartons of water but inevitably , within minutes, we were surrounded by children, many many children all scrambling to get a carton, some hardly able to carry them, resorting to opening the cartons to carry one or two bottles at a time……..running home to drop of what they have and running twice as fast to catch up with us to grab more…..Sometimes, the younger ones faces were full of disappointment when they realized out green bottles were “just water” and not 7 UP…!!!!
Men and women were full of gratitude to receive their cartons, inviting us to share in the little they had as a means of thank you. The humbleness and hospitality of the many Palestinian people , especially those who have very little, will always be one of my outstanding memories of Gaza, no matter how long i will stay here………One elderly lady, probably looking older than her years, invited me in to her house, Her house is a one room galvanised shack on a sand floor, her kitchen consisted of a gas barrel and a plastic basin, she had 3 grandchildren she has to provide for, and yet , she insisted I sit with her, open one of the water bottles and share it with her…. In other area’s, the Northern areas, members of a local Initiative group, local Palestinian youth, would freely accompany us in the Friday deliveries, passing out water with respect and dignity to fellow Palestinians who are sometimes forgotten , who live so close to the borders that they are basically the “front line”, whose homes and livestock are regularly targeted , destroyed or bulldozed, and who have little or no access to services…….. For many of the deliveries, trucks could not even access the areas and sometimes tuck tucks or donkey’s had to be used 
For us, It was an honour to meet speak to and share something with the people of Gaza. The Waqaf water 4 Gaza projet allowed us the opportunity to travel all 5 area’s of Gaza by truck, to work with Palestinians in solidarity with all aspects of the Community, Muslim, Christian, men , women and Children, to visit the children in the orphanage, the children’s centre’s, the handicapped association, cerebral Palsy association and many many more. Promises were made , and will be kept, to return to visit and spend more time with many of the organisations, It was a chance to highlight the barbaric siege on Gaza and its effect on the water situation in Gaza and a chance to work alongside some very committed and wonderful people. We will never be able to thank all of these people but some we must give special mention to on behalf of ourselves and Perdana Global Peace foundation.
To Yazegi group for working so diligently with us, their employees for giving up their time freely to help in our distributions,( especially Rajab ).
To Sabr and the Local Initiative group, Beit Hanoun, for all their help in the deliveris in the Northern area’s.
And huge thanks and Appreciation goes to Hussien Amody, for so much . His amazing photography, his translations, his help with Official Departments, for just being there whenever we needed him, sometimes up to 16 hours a day. This project could not have run as smoothly as it did without him and we will always be Grateful for his help, his professionalism and his commitment.
Recipients for Water:
Islamic Society , Jabalia
Al Amal Orphanage
Al Qattan centre for the child
Rachel Corrie Children’s Centre
Cerebral Palsy Children’s Institute
Refugee Association, Al Maghazy Camp
Womens organisation, Beach Camp
Society for the care of the Handicapped
Debra Association, (epidermolysis Bullosa)
C.P. D. S
Charitable Yarmook Institution, ( Mohammed Radwan)
International Orthodox Christian Charity
Holy family Catholic Church
Bedouin Area , North Gaza
Refugee Camps
Some Smaller organisations who collected small amounts of pallets to distribute themselves.
Perdana Global Peace foundation will continue , as will we, to work in solidarity with the people of Palestine, until all barriers, Physical and Political are broken and until the simplest, purest but most vital resource, WATER, is not a luxury or a donation but a basic human right enjoyed by the Palestinians, AS IS THEIR RIGHT AND THE RIGHT OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON N THE PLANET.
