<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Challenge of Feeding a Family in&nbsp;Gaza]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div class="main_story">
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<div class="story_wrapper"><em>NOTE: This is a guest blog post from Rania Elhilou, Communications Officer at ANERA – Gaza City.</em></p>
<p>December, 2010:  Randa Al-Jarousha has seven children. Her husband is  jobless. He used to work in construction but he got sick and lost his  job.  Even if he gets better, his chances of finding another  construction job are slim since building materials are in short supply.</p>
<p>Most days, Randa sends her son to school without breakfast and  relies on the fortified snacks offered in the Milk for Preschoolers  program run by ANERA.</p>
<p>&#8220;At least I know my son Mohammed can get  milk and biscuits every day. Milk is too expensive for me now and I  can&#8217;t afford to give him protein-rich food like eggs or meat.&#8221;  A  neighbor recently donated three little chickens, which Randa is raising  and eventually will cook for her children.</p>
<p>Randa is not alone.   The jobless rate now is estimated at 50 percent, one of the world&#8217;s  highest.  That means one out of two Palestinian workers in Gaza cannot  find a job.</p>
<p>Somehow they still need to put food on the table.  But the price of food is soaring.</p>
<p>A bag of small pita breads costs about $2.  A family of seven would  need a bag of bread every day but that would cost $14 and without an  income, mothers like Randa must do without. She just shakes her head,  &#8220;Shopping in the market now is a nightmare.&#8221;</p>
<p>With no or very  little resources, how often can a mother buy a kilo of potatoes at  $1.50? Or, a kilo of tomatoes, at $1.50, triple what it cost last  summer.  A kilo of rice now runs about $2.50. It was only $2 six months  ago. A kilo of meat would cost at least $15 &#8211; a rare luxury that some  families might be able to enjoy every four months or so.</p>
<p>A can  of powdered milk runs about $4 and will feed one child for a week.  So,  most mothers buy larger packages of powdered milk, which can feed more  for less.  But a kilo of powdered milk will cost more than $13,  depending on the quality.  So, mothers resort to diluting the milk with a  lot of water, which might satisfy their youngster&#8217;s thirst but not his  nutritional intake.  Fresh milk at $2.70 a liter is beyond most budgets.</p>
<p>I now see children scavenging in the garbage to collect  plastic bottles and other bits and pieces that they can sell in the  market to help their parents buy food.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s true that we are  less dependent on products smuggled through the tunnels from Egypt now  that more products are coming in legally from Israel.  But that doesn&#8217;t  mean we can afford them.</p>
<p>Little has changed for families here.  And for most, life is just getting harder.</p>
<p>&#8212;<br />
<em>ABOUT  ANERA:  For more than 40 years, ANERA has been a leading provider of  development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian  communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East.  In FY  2009, the relief and development agency delivered more than $50 million  of programs to the people of the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan.  For more information, go to <a href="http://www.anera.org/" target="_blank">www.anera.org</a>.</em>Read more:     		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/children/">children</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/health/">health</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/nutrition/">nutrition</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/gaza/">gaza</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/human_rights/">human rights</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/west_bank/">west bank</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/anera/">anera</a>,    		            		            <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/tag/gaza_city/">gaza city</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/human-rights/blog/the-challenge-of-feeding-a-family-in-gaza/">The Challenge of Feeding a Family in Gaza</a>.</p>
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