Meet Zena, in the video, one of 400 diabetes patients at Jalazone Refugee Camp, Palestine. She and her fellow patients, especially children, lack specialized stores to serve their specific health needs, such as organic, and diabetes-friendly products and snacks. The closest option is the stores in Ramallah, which are often expensive and not easily accessible. The lack of access to healthy foods puts patients at risk of deteriorating health. 

The Young Health Guards Initiative is running a crowdfunding campaign to launch a Health Cooperative and Store to serve diabetes patients at Jalazone Refugee Camp. The cooperative will follow a sustainable model to sell healthy and organic products to cover its running costs. The space for the store and cooperative exists at the camp, but we need the campaign funds (approximately $5,000) to set it up, buy initial products, and cover the operating costs for the first few weeks until the store gains sales income.

The profits will be disbursed to diabetes patients to support their purchase of diabetes sensors and medicine, among other medical needs. Though diabetes patients, especially children, are our primary target customers, anyone interested in healthy easting can also access the store.

Our group of volunteers (consisting of diabetes patients and community members), will also work on running awareness campaigns for patients and people at risk or in the pre-diabetic phase. Additionally, our cooperative members will regularly visit patients' homes who do not have diabetes monitors to check up on them, and measure their insulin levels. 

How you can support…

You can contribute to our campaign by directly donating, or sharing with your network. Support our efforts in helping out diabetes patients at Jalazone Refugee Camp.

Who are we?

Meet our team!

This project is part of the Camp Improvement Plan of the Jalazone Refugee Camp, a compilation of priority actions to improve the living conditions of the camp. The Plan was formulated through an inclusive process with participation of various segments of camp residents (i.e. women, youth, children, disabled, the poor, etc). The Plan was developed with technical assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Department of Refugee Affairs (DoRA).