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Search Gaza and you will read headlines of how many people have been killed recently. Such has become the fate of Palestinians living there since war broke out on October 7, 2023. Social media is flooded with images of social workers pulling dead and alive, including children, from rubbles, children shaking on hospital beds, and dead bodies piling up.
Amid this is a hopeful food blogger Hamada Sho who is tactfully using platforms like Instagram to gather aid for Palestinian children. People are not only fighting bombs and fleeing their homes but also combating hunger and thirst as food and water supplies have become scarce.
With over 400K followers on Instagram, Hamada Sho shares videos of feeding displaced children and cooking for them amid refugee camps and destroyed buildings. Capturing the harsh reality in which people are living in Gaza, he shared a video of distributing drinking water among locals. The caption read, “Since fleeing to Khan Younis, we started facing a severe water shortage! So we started thinking about all the other families who were struggling to get drinking water… we got a water truck, and then distributed drinking water to the families”
“I try to do my best, but I’m fearful my best isn’t enough,” the caption further read.
‘Maybe They Will Understand Food’
Hamada Sho often shares videos of him cooking a large amount of food for people, collecting the ingredients, and showcasing to the world what is left of the Palestinian culinary heritage. In May 2024, he shared an ASMR video of cooking, hoping that the language of food will reach the world and more aid will reach the people of Gaza.
His caption read, “We’ve reached out to the world and sent messages in all languages. I chose an ASMR hoping that would work. Maybe if they don’t understand spoken languages, they’ll understand food. ”
Other videos on his platform include him making pasta Alfredo, spaghetti with white sauce, pea stew (amid the rubbles), hummus fateh and falafel, Indomie noodles, and doughnuts for Eid (instead of Eid kaák, which is a traditional delicacy consumed on Eid ul-Adha in Gaza).
Malnutrition In Gaza
In a video, he wrote that he never thought of living a life like he is living right now, amid airstrikes, food shortages, and millions of other challenges. He added, “I found a new passion! A passion to help feed the people in need, especially the kids… We managed together to steal a smile or two here and there, some laughs and a few witty jokes.”
According to a March 2024 report published by UNICEF states that 1 in every 3 children (under 2 years) in Gaza is acutely malnourished. It also reported that children in the Northern Gaza Strip have died of malnutrition and dehydration.
Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, is quoted saying in the report, "We have repeatedly attempted to deliver additional aid, and we have repeatedly called for the access challenges we have faced for months to be addressed. Instead, the situation for children is getting worse with each passing day. Our efforts in providing life-saving aid are being hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and those are costing children their lives."
