Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project
Donkeysaddle’s Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project (PGDP) is a small grassroots humanitarian aid project which began in 2011, growing out of urgent needs experienced by families that Donkeysaddle Projects connected to through our documentation in Gaza.
Please consider making a donation directly to PGDP.
CURRENT WORK:
During the current onslaught on Gaza, PGDP has been providing ongoing support for seven extended families. We have also been working to evacuate some of those families (whose children have special medical needs), as well as others who are injured or ill, and are now providing for re-settlement and medical care.
In addition, from October-April, PGDP addressed a small part of the overwhelming humanitarian need in Gaza with deliveries of food, milk, diapers, and more.
HISTORY:
PGDP grows from Donkeysaddle's belief that we must make long-term commitments to places and people; we do not engage in "hit and run" storytelling. Donkeysaddle released its first film about Gaza in 2011, about the Awajah family whose child was killed and home destroyed. An audience member asked us how she could partner with us to support the family profiled in the film, and what later became known as Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project was born.
In 2015, Donkeysaddle founder Jen Marlowe and Fadi Abushammala (our team member from Gaza) were reporting about the sanitation and water crisis in Gaza. A farmer we interviewed handed us a photo of his six-year old little boy Abdallah, with a rare lung disease, asking: could we help his little boy? He saw Jen--a foreign journalist--as a possible life-line. Could we help his little boy? From that point on, DSP has raised funds for Abdallah’s medical needs.
A few years later, the Israeli military began to deny Abdallah the permits they required to continue treatment in a hospital in Tel Aviv. Motivated by Abdallah's crisis, in 2019 Jen began writing an article about children who need medical care, but are denied permission to leave Gaza by the Israeli military.
This reporting led DSP to Mohamad, a 12-year old boy who was shot in the knee by an Israeli sniper, severing his main nerve. For six months, the Israeli military denied Mohamad a permit to travel to Jerusalem for extremely time-sensitive nerve transplant surgery. Ultimately, Mohamed’s leg was amputated. We’ve been raising funds for Mohamad's ongoing medical needs since then.
2024 UPDATES ON AWAJAH FAMILY, MOHAMAD, AND ABDALLAH:
The Awajah family has continued to endure devastating losses. Kamal (the father of family) died in the summer of 2023. Their home was destroyed for the third time during this onslaught, and Wafaa (the mother of the family)’s eldest daughter Amany was shot by a soldier and killed. The family has been bouncing back and forth between Rafah in the south and Nusseirat in the middle area of Gaza Strip for the past seven months, desperately trying to find safety. PGDP has continued to provide them monthly support to offset the escalating price of basic items needed for survival.
Mohamad’s home in northern Gaza was destroyed in an airstrike that killed his sister and her children. His amputated limb has also been causing him excruciating pain, as he wasn’t able to receive the follow-up care he needed after another surgery in early October 2023. We were able to evacuate Mohamad and his mother to Egypt on May 5, where he will be safe and receive treatment for his leg.
Abdallah and his family have been displaced from the middle area to southern Gaza for months. The medicine for Abdallah’s lung disease is currently unavailable in Gaza. In early May, Fadi spoke to Abdallah and was alarmed that he was struggling to breathe. We sprung into action to raise the funds to evacuate Abdallah and his mom to Cairo where Abdallah can be treated; unfortunately, the Israeli army took over the Rafah border crossing before they could safely evacuate. We are hoping the crossing opens soon.
