Cycling4Gaza 2015: Fundraising for Gaza PCRF Mental Health Initiative

Cycling4Gaza is an initiative founded by a group of determined and passionate young people in the wake of the 2009 war on Gaza. Its mission is to raise awareness about the on-going blockade on the Gaza Strip and to raise critical funds for carefully selected non-profit organisations that work to support Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees through education and healthcare. Cycling4Gaza provides a unique method to connect with Palestine through annual cycling challenges and various community awareness events and activities.

This year, I am so excited and grateful for Cycling4Gaza's support of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund's Mental Health Initiative. 

During the 2014 War in Gaza, called “Operation Pillars of Defense” in Israel, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) mobilized efforts to address the expanding mental health needs of the children affected by the six-weeks of violence.   As an initial step, we felt it was necessary to conduct a needs assessment to determine the nature of psychological symptoms impacting Gazan children exposed to the war.  With the use of innovative technology, five PCRF social workers were trained to obtain data from 1072 children living in Gaza during the war, looking at both traumatic event exposure and mental health symptoms.  This data was acquired as a first pass to launch a clinical intervention program within the organization with a goal of increasing mental health treatment for children suffering from intense trauma symptoms as a result of the war.    

Thanks to Cycling4Gaza, we will have the ability to continue to work towards addressing the profound mental health needs in this vulnerable population of children.  To Holland we go!  

The PCRF is a non-profit organization that predominantly provides medical relief for children under Israeli military occupation. It is the main organization in the region that sends injured children abroad for free medical care and brings in expert volunteer surgery teams to provide medical care and training for local medical personnel.  Over 1,000 children have been sent to the US for free medical care and over 10,000 children have received local medical care from visiting surgery teams.

The 2014 war on Gaza left thousands of children injured not only physically but also psychologically. Today, approximately 373,000 children in Gaza suffer from emotional and psychological trauma and are in dire need of mental care support and reintegration into society.

The objective of the Gaza Mental Health Project is to assess children’s needs, provide them the service they require and to train social workers on administering screening questionnaires. Over 1,300 children have been screened by 5 field workers to date and their subsequent programs are currently being developed.