Tragic update on Gaza success story

You may remember Mrs Najah Harb Salem Qdeh from a short profile in our 2010 Annual Report. The story spoke about her success in breeding rabbits for food and income generation as a part of our food security project for poor families in Gaza.

Najah with her successful rabbit breeding farm. [Photo: K.McClelland]

Najah (whose name means "success") lived in Abasan village in the southern Gaza Strip, and her family was one of the first to receive two rabbit breeding cages - each containing one male and three female rabbits - from the APHEDA-MA'AN project. The two cages they originally received quickly turned into a small farm with many cages and even more rabbits. They were justifiably very proud of their efforts.

On one MA'AN monitoring visit, one of their rabbits gave birth to twelve babies, which were immediately handled with love and care. Soon the farm had over 100 rabbits, with many rabbits sold to neighbours or used to add protein to their household diet. The income from the rabbits allowed the family to improve their financial situation, while also providing them with a fulfilling workload.

The project enabled Najah to support her family of eight children. Her eldest child - her 21 year old daughter, Nidal - was engaged to be married in less than a month. Their family home, which lacks even the most basic facilities, is located close to the Israeli border. The house walls had been burnt by white phosphorus bombs during Israel's Operation Cast Lead military invasion in 2009, with the family fleeing to escape tank shelling.

MA'AN staff always noted Najah's commitment and determination to develop her project. Najah had asked to receive a small loan with ambitions of becoming the biggest rabbit farm in the area.

During another of MA'AN's monitoring visits, Najah was cooking on a wood fire - since she had no gas stove. Perceiving a sense of pity from the visitors, Najah responded with dignity:

"Maybe I don't have a gas cooking stove, and a lot of things that other families own, but I am happy that my children, thanks to God, are excellent students in their schools and this gives me great hope that they will compensate me tomorrow, for what I and my husband suffered to make ends meet and provide food for them."

On 8 April 2011, Najah was at home, cooking food with her daughters on their wood fire. Her husband and sons were at their nearby mosque for Friday prayers. Overhead, an Israeli warplane, thought to be a drone, fired a missile at their home garden, killing Najah and her engaged daughter, and seriously injuring two of Najah's other daughters. The family's rabbit hutches were also destroyed. Her husband is totally devastated:

"In a minute we lost everything. My wife, my daughter, and our little rabbits project."

Everyone at Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Najah and her daughter Nidal. Our thoughts and condolences go out to her husband, Ibrahim, and their family.

More information on our Rural Livelihoods project in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.

Last Modified: Friday, 09-Mar-2012 13:52:23 EST
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