The electricity shortage impacts every family in Gaza
It’s been 10 years of living under siege in Gaza. Three years after the most brutal Israeli assault. And things are getting worse on every level.
We are getting just 1.5-3 hours of electricity each day. It’s a disaster.
Without electricity sewage goes untreated and is dumped into the sea. Water doesn’t get pumped to people who live in high buildings or rural areas.
Everything has to be done in the dark–cooking, eating, caring for babies and those who are sick or old. Food rots in refrigerators. No fans to cool the hot Gaza summer. Children can’t read, students can’t study. There have been many tragic house fires because the only solution people have is to use candles.
I also have some very hopeful news to share with you today.
MECA Staff Amal Abu Moailqe is an engineer herself and she and a team of volunteer engineers took the initiative to design a rechargeable battery-operated system to power lights, fans, and phones for twelve hours.
In the midst of this terrible situation and the shortages, I see again and again how people come up with solutions. Please know that when you give, you are providing the resources for people in Gaza to help each other.
From Gaza with love,
Dr. Mona El-Farra
MECA Gaza Projects Director
Amal and the Sketch Engineering Team assemble Gaza Lights systems
Further reading on the electricity crisis in Gaza:
- Israel implements illegal cuts to Gaza’s power supply by Charlotte Silver, The Electronic Intifada
- Gaza’s electricity crisis, Al Jazeera
- Gaza: Looming humanitarian catastrophe highlights need to lift Israel’s 10-year illegal blockade, Amnesty International