By Kouthar Sambo
“I would like to honour one of our team members and head of Gaza relief, Dr. Ahmed Abassi who was brutally killed on 16th November (2023). His only crime was looking after the orphans, taking medical supplies to the hospitals, and feeding the hungry.”
This is according to humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers’, Ali Sablay, who addressed the crowd at the Soles of our Souls initiative at the Sea Point Promenade on Saturday.
” I bring messages from our teams in Gaza – they thank you for creating awareness in South Africa,” proclaimed Sablay.
The event, which was facilitated by Gift of the Givers and Healthcare Workers for Palestine (HCW4P), was a school shoe drive that aimed to provide school shoes to children coming from impoverished backgrounds in Cape Town.
According to Sablay, the event was a resounding success as it managed to raise over R1 million, amounting to 11,000 pairs of shoes.
Meanwhile, HCW4P’s Nazreena Hassim said that HCW4P aims to honor both the martyred children of Gaza and the struggling children of South Africa.
“For each child that is being murdered in Gaza, we are donating a pair of shoes to a child in South Africa. Of course, we can never do complete justice,” explained Hassim.
Speaking to VOC News, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign’s Usuf Chikte said that everyday children in Gaza have their legs amputated.
“A bit more than 1000 people are amputees and they will never be able to wear shoes. But those are the lucky ones. The schools are closed and most school children are no longer with us any longer due to the horrific genocide in Gaza,” detailed Chikte.
Today we are giving children shoes, explained Chikte, to walk in memory of those children who either lost their feet or who were killed in Gaza.
” These are the soles of the shoes which will be brazed in the heat and the dust of South African soil. But we also identify with the souls of those who have departed, ” added Chikte
VOC News
