[Original (March 23, 2026); Translated by K. Tanimoto/S. Yoshihara]
In November 2025, JVC held a psychosocial support session for the staff and volunteers of our local partner organization, Ard El Insan (AEI), which has been working alongside us to provide nutrition assistance in Gaza.
Scenes from the psychosocial support session, November 2025
AEI, our partner in delivering nutrition assistance in Gaza
For more than two years, our nutrition assistance program in Gaza has continued without pause, delivering support to children, parents, and pregnant and breastfeeding women. AEI’s staff and volunteers have sustained this work on the ground.
Many of them have been living in displacement themselves and have lost family members, yet they have continued their work. When shortages became especially severe, they transported nutritional supplements before dawn to reduce the risk of supplies being stolen or looted before distribution. They have stood beside parents traumatized by repeated attacks, providing not only nutrition assistance but emotional support as well. Sustaining this work on the ground has been made possible through their strength and compassion. Even in the harshest circumstances, photographs of AEI’s activities show bright, genuine smiles. Time and again, those smiles have moved us deeply, and we are proud to stand alongside AEI as their partner.
AEI staff carrying out their work with smiles
Supporting those who support others
We wanted to find a way, as JVC, to support the people who have continued working under such extraordinarily difficult circumstances. With that in mind, we began exploring ways to support AEI staff and volunteers in July 2025, when reports of a possible ceasefire first began to emerge. As we considered how best to help, we decided to provide a psychosocial support session — care for those who care for others.
We continued hoping for a ceasefire that would make the session possible; a ceasefire was finally declared on October 10th. Because it was unclear how long it would last, we moved quickly to make the necessary preparations. We arranged for psychosocial support specialists to facilitate the session, secured a venue, and prepared light refreshments and small take-home items for participants.
Knowing that even basic necessities such as food and soap were difficult to obtain, we hoped that participants would not only benefit from the session itself, but also be able to return home and share a small moment of comfort with their families.
With that hope in mind, we prepared refreshments together with hygiene kits that included soap and other essential items.
Hygiene kits, including soap, prepared as take-home gifts for participants
A long-awaited moment of comfort
Then came November 21st, the day of the session
AEI staff and volunteers celebrating their reunion
As we watched everyone reunite for the first time in a few years, we found it impossible to hold back our tears. Seeing their smiles, we could not help but think of everything they had endured to reach this moment. At last, they were able to share a brief moment of comfort and peace. It showed us just how precious that time was.
(To be continued.)
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