Donate through APPEH to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund

Photo credit: Jordan Ellis

We are watching a humanitarian disaster unfold in Gaza. As of 22 October 2023, an estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced.

While calls for ceasefire are widely being ignored by Western governments, we must support the people on the ground. APPEH will be sending all donations to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund for the foreseeable future. Your donation will be tax deductible, and will go directly toward supporting children in great need.

Past projects

Gaza has been in a dire state since 2006 since a blockade was cruelly imposed by Israel and the US with the EU and Australia in silent collaboration.

This has impacted not only passage of essential goods but also restricted ordinary and innocent Palestinians from accessing medical supplies and educational opportunities because of the draconian restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza.

APPEH provides an avenue for us Australians to assist with providing medical supplies and expertise and also training opportunities.

In January 2023, a volunteer eye surgeon from Adelaide visited Gaza with PCRF (Palestine Childrens’ Relief Fund) to assess the state of the ophthalmic services and offer some solutions.

One request was for overseas placements to train young eye surgeons in areas of special need i.e. in “sub-specialties” like cornea, retina, pediatric, oncology and oculoplastics.

One of the young eye surgeons on the staff of the Gaza Ophthalmic Hospital in Gaza City.

Dr Mohammed Almanassra was able to procure a spot in the prestigious L V Prasad Eye Institute in India to do a 15 month course in oculoplastic surgery. He went through a rigorous selection process which involved a written exam and two interviews.

Currently, there is no one with oculoplastic surgical expertise in all of Gaza. This specialty not only covers eyelid surgery but also surgical treatment of the tear drainage system, the orbit (bony eye socket) and oncology (eye tumours and growths).

The cost for this course is 30,000 USD.

Fortunately, we found a generous donor who offered to cover the whole cost!

In the past, APPEH was able to facilitate donations with the help of AFOPA (Australian Friends of Palestine Association) and individual donors to provide surgical equipment (2018), diagnostic equipment (2022, 2023) and travel expenses of volunteer teams (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).

For more information on our other work, see Projects