Local heroes working on the ground in Middle East thanks to Scots donations

For local staff and volunteers in Gaza, daily life is beyond exhausting. The majority of them have experienced repeated forced displacement from their homes, loss of loved ones, severe shortages of food and water and constant disruption to daily life.

Even this week, one of Christian Aid’s partner organisations had to evacuate their shelter again where they have been hosting displaced families, under threat of bombardment. The physical and mental strain is immense. Yet their commitment has ensured that assistance has continued to reach families in urgent need.

Christian Aid’s local partner staff have helped restore water supplies, helped farmerscontinue producing food during times of severe scarcity, and supported vulnerable women to earn an income, all while facing the same challenges as the communities they serve. Their story of resilience is awe inspiring.

One of the central goals is not only to help people survive, but to preserve dignity, hope and opportunities for recovery. With this support, people in Gaza are not only receiving aid, but they are leading solutions that help families survive today and build hope for tomorrow.

One community-led project run by Christian Aid’s partner organisation PARC has helped stabilise water supplies for around 30,000 people in Beit Lahia, by providing a generator to operate three municipal wells when no other water source was available. Other initiatives restored water access in camps, schools and shelters across Gaza.

READ MORE: 60 years on and the work of the Disasters Emergency Committee has never been more important

PARC has also worked with farmers to protect livelihoods and maintain food production wherever possible. By providing seeds, tools and technical support, they have helped farming communities continue cultivating land, even in an environment where access, infrastructure and resources have been so badly damaged. Earlier this year, through the distribution of potato seed tubers, 57 farmers in Gaza were able to cultivate 171 dunums (171,000 square metres) of land at a critical moment in the planting season, helping maintain local food production at a time it was desperately needed.

Through the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, an incredible £5.7 million has been raised in Scotland, and more than £68 million across the UK to fund vital support like this to families impacted by conflict in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria.

We are hugely grateful to readers of The Scotsman and the wider public for funding the work of the Disaster Emergency Committee’s 15 member charities and their partners, but we want to pay a particular tribute to all of the inspiring local aid workers who continue to face huge personal risks as they save and protect lives in their communities.

Among them are Dr Niveen, a mental health practitioner with the Palestine Red CrescentSociety (PRCS) in Gaza, a local partner organisation of DEC charity the British Red Cross. She fled from her home with her four children and is now housed in a basic shelter.

The family initially had to make do in a tent as she juggled looking after her loved ones and helping children through the ongoing trauma.

“I told my children that we have to think of this tent as our shelter and our home. I’ll never forget those words. Imagine moving from a home where you have your privacy, your dreams and your memories, to living in a tent where the bathroom, kitchen and beds are all in the same space. It was extremely difficult. And yet, we still had to go out and work with people.

“Despite our own suffering, we were providing humanitarian assistance to people who were just as traumatised and exhausted as we were. We went through many challenges, but supporting one another made things a little easier.

“I’ve met many children who have been displaced nine times, 15 times, even 17 times. Every displacement is a tragedy in itself. A child can be safe between their parents, sleeping in their own bed, and suddenly they’re forced outside into the cold or into the middle of gunfire and shelling. That is terrifying for children.

“One of the things that keeps me at ease and motivates me to continue this work is the impact I see when I work with someone. I measure my love for this profession, and my commitment to it, by the impact I see on the people who receive the psychological support I provide.”

Meanwhile Farah Saifan, a local aid worker in Lebanon, works with DEC charity Islamic Relief in the Bekaa Valley, providing food, clean water and hygiene to families living in shelters whilst also being impacted by the conflict herself.

“As aid workers, we stay awake all night listening to the bombing and the airstrikes. And in the morning, we need to be there, standing behind and in front of these people. Listening to them, supporting them, serving them and providing for them.

“Anyone can adapt to a new home, a new house, or a new school, but no one can adapt to living on the street. Many people displaced from the south have only a small tent or a camping tent by the seaside, and many others have lived for months in their cars on the streets. So how can you ask them to adapt to life on the street?

“My message to people who are supporting humanitarian aid is very simple. Every single act of support makes a great difference, because the need is so great.”