St Joseph’s hosting coffee morning fundraiser for Uisce for Gaza

“Over the past year we have watched the horror unfold in Gaza and have felt very helpless.”

These were the words of Ann Marie Meehan, who teaches Spanish and French in Derry’s St Joseph’s Boys’ School.

Co-organiser of the Uisce for Gaza fundraiser taking place in the school on Friday, November 22, from 9am to 11.00am, Ann Marie said as soon as she heard about the initiative through the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) she thought, ‘This is it. This is something we can do’.

Uisce for Gaza is working with Mohammed Alazzami, who is raising funds for new water pipelines and water transport in Gaza and currently provides clean water to the people in Gaza.

Mohamed is a father, grandfather and former teacher who is currently displaced in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. 

Israel has damaged large amounts of water infrastructure in Gaza, forcing people to walk long distances to reach the nearest water pumps. 

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“Mohamed Alazzami has delivered 37 trucks of water to different areas in Gaza,” said Ann Marie.

She added: “Each truck carries 4,500 litres of water, so 166,500 litres of clean drinking water have been brought to thousands of desperate families since this campaign began almost two months ago.

“Due to the amazing generosity of the Irish people and others, Uisce for Gaza is hopeful it will be able to continue to provide Mohamed with enough money to continue daily water deliveries and occasional food drops,” said Ann Marie. 

Gerry McBride, who teaches IT at St Joseph’s and is organising Friday’s Uisce for Gaza fundraiser with Ann Marie, said the whole school community was taking part.

“On Friday we are having a non-uniform day in school so any student who donates £1 doesn’t have to wear their uniform. 

“We are also hosting a coffee morning in the school for our students and we are inviting parents, grandparents and guardians too. Really, anyone in the community who wants to drop in, have a cuppa and make a donation to a very worthy cause is very welcome,” said Gerry, who added the refreshments would be accompanied by some entertainment provided by the St Joseph’s students. 

“Everyone in the school has been running various fundraisers. We had a raffle last week and we are having another one this week and one on Friday morning as well.

“We are also running a ‘Golden Minute’ soccer prediction event next week. Apparently they are a good source of fundraising.

We have to thank everyone who has already given us a donation and the teachers throughout the school who have taken Uisce For Gaza to Heart and organised activities, for example, there is a beautiful sweet hamper up for grabs,” said Gerry.

More information on Uisce for Gaza can be found here:  Instagram: @uisceforgaza. Email: uisceforgaza@gmail.com  GoFundMe: Uisce for Gaza! (Get fresh water to the people of Gaza).