Dear Friends and Supporters of UPA,

We are writing to you to illustrate what it is like to work in a place like Gaza during a time of crisis. You are familiar with our reporting, our photos and our stories of beneficiaries, whose lives are touched by every program and initiative UPA implements in Gaza. What you may not know is who we are. We are brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and friends to the members of the community that we serve.

What we would like for you to know is that we are not isolated from what happens in this community. We and our families are very much a part of it. We know we must stay strong to continue our work.

We are motivated and maintain a positive outlook on life even through the most troubling circumstances. What keeps us going is our community: the families and people we help through our programs. When one of our beneficiaries tells us that we have transformed their life in a positive way— it makes it all worth it.

Based on the work of UPA’s mental health practitioners, we are seeing an increase in psychological trauma in Gaza due to the ongoing wars and assaults. Organizations like UPA are needed now more than ever. UPA’s programs provide a variety of crucial services for the people of Gaza and address their most immediate needs, whether it is supporting a young entrepreneur to start a small business and provide for their family or showing a teacher how to assess the signs and symptoms of trauma in their students.

Working at UPA is more than a job to us. It is a second family. What we enjoy most about working at UPA is that we are a team that supports each other through every aspect of our work. We are hopeful, and we cannot afford to be pessimistic. Thank you for supporting UPA’s work through all of its programs and initiatives – not just in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon.

Sincerely,

The UPA Gaza Team