GiftsBy Richard Read
The Oregonian, January 25, 2009
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Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps' chief executive, got into Gaza on Sunday to see bombed-out buildings, people living in rubble and some humanitarian aid trickling in.
But what struck Keny-Guyer more than the physical destruction was a level of shock, sadness and fear greater than during any of his visits since 1982.
"I've never felt people so dazed, so shocked, so fearful and so concerned about the future," he said from Gaza City.
Foreign humanitarian workers are able to enter Gaza now, a week after the war between Israel and Hamas stopped. Mercy Corps, the Portland-based international relief and development organization, is distributing mattresses, milk powder, clothing, blankets and flour. But aid workers complain that Gaza's borders are not open enough.
"The most vital aid, and some of the hardest to get in, is construction materials," Keny-Guyer said.
At least 4,000 homes are destroyed, 21,000 badly damaged and 100,000 people homeless in Gaza, according to aid agencies. Construction supplies are priced at five or six times normal, too expensive for many residents and aid agencies.
Keny-Guyer plans to meet with U.S. Agency for International Development officials today and to hold other meetings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to press for better border access.
Keny-Guyer said he saw families of 15 living in rubble with no water or electricity. He described asking a 12-year-old boy in Zeitoun, one of the worst-hit Gaza City neighborhoods, to show where he lived. The boy led Keny-Guyer under a bent steel beam, climbing across dirt and rubble into a damaged room.
"Then he sort of pointed out ... where his father had died," Keny-Guyer said. "I was struck that he was saying this almost mechanically."
The boy's muted reaction, and that of so many others experiencing traumatic stress, point up the need for extensive psycho-social work in Gaza, Keny-Guyer said.
"That became more of an impression for me than the physical destruction," he said.
Gazans aren't confident the cease-fire will hold, Keny-Guyer said. "Clearly some people fear this is simply running the risk of turning a younger generation toward more extremism."
Mercy Corps works in Gaza but not in Israel. Keny-Guyer said he condemns attacks on civilians wherever they occur. But Israel, he said, is far better equipped to respond to casualties and damage. The scale of destruction and trauma in Gaza add up to a greater need than Mercy Corps and other relief organizations can address, he said.
Mercy Corps has 25 Palestinian staff members in Gaza. All survived.
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