Food as Medicine for Palestine's PKU Kids

I have many good things to tell you but first, I must convey very tragic news: the death of the PKU baby in Gaza whom we all welcomed just seven months ago. 

Baby Eyad tragically passed away 3 weeks ago. Baby Eyad’s family visited the doctor hours before he died — his PKU test results were completely normal. He was born with congenital heart disease and brain damage, and his parents knew his time on earth would be limited. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family at this time. Rest in peace Eyad, we will miss you.

My name is Jen Doyle, and I am part of the Gratitude Team at Rebuilding Alliance. I am and aspiring writer and I joined RA because I believe that the work we do is important. Neveen, a founding member of RA’s PKU Tiger Team, helped me compile this report.

Thanks to your generous contributions, we successfully sent our 5th shipment of PKU medical food — plus! 

• Our shipment arrived in Gaza on March 13th and our partners at the Youth Vision Society invited families to pick it up within days, in 5 locations up and down the Gaza strip — then the home delivered to anyone who couldn't come.
  
  
• This was an emergency shipment because the Ministries of Health failed to deliver medical food to PKU families in Gaza. Thanks to over a hundred donations, we provided a month and a half supply of medical food.
  
  
• Eleven children are now being sponsored by teamss of Recurring Donors!  Thank you!  We'll deliver every two months.
  
  
• We supplied: 1,008 cans of Type 2 formula and 156 cans of Type 1 formula.
  
  
• When the Ramallah distributor offered 683 additional Type 2 cans at a discount, we jumped at the chance. These arrived March 22nd, with 38 more cans of Type 1 formula and 645 cans of Type 2 formula and they were delivered immediately for immediate consumption.

Our work at this stage is all about ensuring a regular supply of medical food for these wonderful children. Though Rebuilding Alliance is now welcomed into the Health Cluster’s Nutrition Group and our presentation was well-received, there's no word yet on whether UNICEF or the other health cluster members will be able to pitch-in.

Meanwhile, I am delighted to tell you that Rebuilding Alliance is working with a PKU Mom chef to launch the ‘PKU Mommy’s Kitchen — Palestine’:

• Episode 1:  Kentucky Fried Cauliflower —  Check out the link below! 
  
  
• Chef Sanabel has been combing the world’s videos for PKU-healthy recipes she can cook for her children.
  
  
• Dr. Nadira Daamseh, the only metabolic specialist in all of Palestine, joins as an adviser.

Expisode 2 is nearly finished and TikTok versions will be ready soon too.

There are many ways to help:

• Might you like to or do you know someone who might like to sponsor our cooking show?  They will produce a show every two weeks, and if we can raise sponsorships at $35K per show, we can cover the cost of medical food for all of Gaza's PKU children. 
  
  
• If you are already sponsoring a child with a monthly donation, thank you again!
  
  
• If you would like to sponsor, please know that GlobalGiving is matching recurring donations 100%, up to $200, after your third recurring donation.
  
  
• If you just want to donate, please do.  Through Friday midnight Eastern time, GlobalGiving will match your first $50 donation with another $25 for TogetherWeCan: Medical food for Palestine PKU Kids.

Thank you for all that you do.

Links:

• PKU Mommy's Kitchen Episode 1