Maia Project Update

For Over 11 Years

The new unit providing clean water to the kids in Shuka, Rafah (MECA, 12/29/21)

Help us give the gift of Clean Water to the Children of Rafah

There is a water crisis in Palestine that affects the health of virtually every adult and child. In the Gaza Strip poor sanitation and over-extraction have polluted the limited water supply. Israeli military attacks and the blockade have prevented repairs to water infrastructure. Water to Gaza is restricted and often too expensive for families to purchase from a safe source.

MAIA is Arabic for water, and the MAIA Project began when children at a UN school in Gaza picked clean drinking water as the one thing they wanted most for their school.

That’s why the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project joined with the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) in 2010 to provide water filters to schools in Rafah. You can help today!

For a limited time we are offering a 22-oz. Trek II aluminum refillable water bottle with this Maia logo for all donations of at least $60.

Donations of $80 or more can also receive a GAZA logo pin. If you want the water bottle and/or pin, please mail a check and send us a phone number or email address with your request; we will contact you to arrange delivery.

• Make a donation online. Due to coronavirus precautions, this is currently preferred.
• Mail a check payable to MRSCP with the memo “water”. Send it to
  MRSCP
  P.O. Box 5214
  Madison, WI 53705

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax deductible.

Our History with the Maia Project

• 2019 — 2020 Our current goal is to raise $16,000 for a large Maia filter at the Al Shuka Preparatory School. The siege of Gaza and lack of building materials forces this school to run in two shifts: the first one girls and the second co-ed. A total of 2,200 students and their families will be able to get clean water from this unit.

[pdf-embedder url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Maia-Brochure-2019-adobe.pdf” title=”Maia Brochure 2019 adobe”]

• 2018 — 2019 $16,000 for filters at two schools serving 3,250 students and their families in Rafah. A joint project of Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Jewish Voice for Peace – Madison, and Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. Photos of the filters by Josie Shields-Stromsness, Middle East Children’s Alliance:

http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/maia-bro-for-online590.pdf

• 2013 $11,500 for clean water at the Girl’s Preparatory School A in Rafah with 1,187 students.

• 2011 $13,700 for a larger filter system at the UN Girl’s Elementary school in the Rafah Refugee Camp. This donation helped supply 1,800 young girls with a very basic human right; something children and parents in Wisconsin take for granted.

• 2010 $1,995 to install a desalination and filter system for the Tuyor Al-Jena kindergarten in Rafah, where children are now enjoying clean, safe water. It was donated in memory of MRSCP member Ken Coffeen.

• More pictures of Maia filter installations