![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Maria-teaching-in-a-Womens-Center.jpg\")
<\/a>Maria teaching in a womens center<\/p><\/div>(Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility<\/a> has traveled to Gaza since 1993. Since 2009, following the Cast Lead invasion by Israel, WPSR has sponsored 12 medical delegations to serve the people of Gaza.) Day Four in Gaza<\/p>\n Gaza is home to Women\u2019s Empowerment Clinics \u2013 NGOs that provide education for adult women in such areas as breastfeeding, childcare, political involvement, and exercise. Funding for these clinics is a constant problem in this land of extreme unemployment.<\/p>\n With borders closed, movement of produce and goods from Gaza remains stagnant. A furniture industry that was once a source of international trade is nearly non-existent. Shipment of fruits and flowers is largely prohibited. Jobs in construction are not numerous enough to make a dent in the need for income in hundreds of thousands of homes.<\/p>\n No rain – sewage in the streets<\/p><\/div>Today we saw an increase in fishing along the coast, but the narrow corridor allowed by Israel to fishermen constricts the major fishing industry. Gaza lives in economic crisis.<\/p>\n A destroyed tunnel area with Egypt in the background<\/p><\/div>We visited the border area between Gaza and Rafah \u2013 an area where thousands of tunnels once provided access to goods from Egypt. People, cars, gasoline and many supplies moved through these tunnels while the 10-year-old siege prevented free transit.<\/p>\n In the last year, nearly all of the tunnels have been destroyed. On the Egyptian side of the border, a broad swath of land has been cleared, denying the protection to tunnels that was once provided by a community of homes and other structures. The siege has been tightened.<\/p>\n
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