NEF 2004 Annual Report - Near East Foundation

packages” were distributed to sustain the momentum with home learning and benefit their
brothers and sisters. So successful, the NEF program has led to ongoing play activities in local
schools; plus the construction of permanent play facilities in the community. (For more, see
Fun & Games with a Purpose)
For the very needy who feel their
deprivation most acutely on joyous festival
days, NEF responded with “Feast Gifts” with
support from Canada’s Human Concern
International and Mercy International in
Kuwait. During Alfiter, 385 children received
food packages and 35 blankets were given
to the disabled elderly. On Al-Adha,
packages of sweets and blankets were
distributed to 160 of the poorest families,
who clutched them close and beamed
smiles of appreciation. There was also
clothing, heaters and toys for children.
Far beyond widows with children, the
disabled and very sick, the current crisis
has critically impacted economic conditions
for virtually the entire population with 40.8
percent of the people in a “precarious situation,” according to the UN Special Coordinator. A
growing number of these low income families must make painful decisions on how to allocate
their sparse resources. Will it be for food, clothing, health care, transportation or public
utilities? All necessities and hard choices, but without electricity, typically costing less than $20
a month, families lack clean drinking water, functioning sanitary facilities and other essentials
requiring electrical power. Wide-ranging consequences span diseases accompanying impure
water, particularly for vulnerable new mothers, infants and young children, on through the
stress and insecurity of living in the dark.
Our “Let There Be Light (And Water Too)” program covers up to 70 percent of electricity
payments due for as long as three-months, allowing for both the retiring of existing
indebtedness and restoration of electrical and water services. Payment is made directly to the
utility company. Over five months 750 households, that’s about 3,500 people, plus 200 small
businesses providing vital goods and services, have received this support, based on their
income and ability to maintain payments once brought up to date.
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© 2004 The Near East Foundation