Palestinians Must Have Access to Water, We As Children of The West Demand It!
Photograph Source: Muhammad Sabah, B’Tselem – CC BY 4.0
Our names are Jude and Leo and we want to tell you all about our fundraising adventures over the summer to support the Palestinian people to have access to water, their fundamental human right.
We have all watched, hopelessly, for nine whole months as our Palestinian friends endured a genocide, seeing atrocity after atrocity. Going to marches in London and protests in Southampton wasn’t enough for us.
We wanted to take further action and do something more, do anything, to make a difference.
A five kilometre walk in our local Country Park in Southampton, England, quickly turned into our Three Peaks Challenge, our Go Fund Me page was setup, and our fundraising began in July. After a few further practice walks we set out for Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. We pitched our Palestinian flag in the village below the mountain and took an early bus to the start point.
It was tough going but we managed to summit in two and a half hours. Jude was exhausted at the top and needed to sleep. Our Mum and Dad forced Jude to eat before heading back. My ankles and knees were hurting coming down the mountain so we swam in an icy cold lake to help ease our muscles. We celebrated raising £1000 pounds when we got back to camp. It took us 10 hours of walking and 33,000 steps to complete our first Peak.
Two weeks later we set out for Scafell Pike, Lake District, England’s highest mountain. A total of 12 hours driving there and back was wasted because the weather was terrible. From the start of the hike we were soaked, could barely see in the fog and stopped to eat but our warm bodies quickly turned to shivers so we headed down the mountain, heavy hearted.
Within the same week, we were back on our way to Scafell Pike. Although it is the smallest of the Three Peaks, it was probably the hardest so far. Nearing the top of the mountain Jude rolled his ankle. Mum wanted him to go back because every step meant it would be harder to get down and the wind was fierce near the summit. Jude said “No, this is nothing compared to what they are suffering!”
Half an hour later, we hobbled to the summit, wrapped tightly in our Kufiyahs, holding our cherished Palestinian flag.
Fluttering.
Freely.
Happy that we made it.
We soon realised we had reached £2000 pounds raised. We had walked another 10 hours and 42,000 steps this time.
We have been overwhelmed with everyone’s support and generous donations towards the Water Well for Ahmad’s family and community in Deir-Al-Balah, Central Gaza. Unfortunately, snow on Ben Nevis made it impossible for us to complete the 3 Peaks, but hopefully we will make it back early next summer. In the meantime we will find a new challenge to carry on our fundraising.
Thank you for reading about our adventures, but we want to say that this isn’t really about us, this isn’t about our adventures, it’s about helping the children of Palestine, children my age, my brothers age, my baby sisters age, to get clean and fresh water to survive this genocide.
Please donate today, anything you can, to help us keep the Water Well operating.
Free, Free Palestine!
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