Northwest Aid Trickles in to Gaza; Mercy Corps Partners With Qatar NGO

By Kristi Heim

Seattle Times, January 15, 2009

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As the crisis in the Gaza Strip occupies UN and world leaders, the situation on the ground eased enough to get two truckloads into the territory, Mercy Corps reported. Still humanitarian workers said food and medicine is moving at a snail's pace, and they've had to resort to buying limited supplies inside Gaza at exorbitant prices.

Mercy Corps says it partnered with a non-governmental organization based in Qatar, Reach Out to Asia, to respond jointly to the emergency, part of a longer-term agreement between the two groups to address disasters, conflicts and economic collapse in the Middle East.

The two groups are sending 600 tons of food and supplies, such as mattresses, pillows, blankets, powdered milk, rice, canned tuna, dates and soy oil. They are hoping that as many as 27 trucks can enter Gaza this weekend.

Ever tech-savvy, the non-profit has created a Twitter feed to follow the events unfolding in real time.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The Seattle Times