What you are about to read is not just another news bulletin. It is what is really happening, far from the cameras, where emergency never takes a break.
Between silent famine, forgotten war, and discreet but powerful victories, this is what the populations we support are living through. This is what your donations make possible, in spite of everything.
Settle in. What you are about to read will not be forgotten.
Professor Raphaël Pitti President, HuSoMe
Gaza: orphans, the first forgotten victims of the famine
Orphans remain at the heart of our commitment. Their situation is getting worse every day. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a critical point:
- Mass displacement between north and south continues,
- Fuel is lacking,
- Health centres are overwhelmed,
- Famine is taking hold for the long term.
Children, and above all those who have no one left, are paying the highest price.
So what do you do when 39,000 children have lost a parent (source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics), and 17,000 of them have no one left?
In Gaza, these are not numbers. They are lives. Orphaned, vulnerable children, left to fend for themselves. They have no arms to carry them and no voice to defend them. During food distributions, some are crushed in the crowd. They have no one to protect them. And meanwhile, cases of severe malnutrition are exploding. The mid-upper arm circumference measurements taken on the ground by our project manager, Dr Fahima Al Jabari, are alarming. They indicate acute malnutrition.
In the face of this emergency, we are acting
A reception and accommodation centre is going to open to shelter these children, feed them, care for them and give them back a stable setting.
But orphans are not the only ones in danger. Another, even more silent distress affects the youngest from birth: malnutrition.
It begins in the first days of life. Mothers, weakened, no longer have the strength to breastfeed. And infant formula has become almost impossible to find.
So what do you give a newborn when its mother has no more milk… and formula has disappeared from the shelves, and the last rations are counted? Last month, 66 children died of hunger. 66!
Every day, our teams have to make impossible choices: who gets what is left?
In the face of this emergency, we are currently negotiating a joint purchase with an international NGO to try to bring infant formula into the territory.
But to carry on, we need everything. Resources. People to spread the word. Support. Because a newborn cannot wait.
As you can see, new logistical challenges arise in Gaza every day — and sometimes they border on the absurd.
Take water, for example.
We continue to distribute 20,000 litres of water a day. That is the equivalent of more than 100 bathtubs, or enough to meet the vital daily needs of nearly 3,000 people. But with the fuel shortage, we are considering an unlikely solution: transporting water in carts pulled by donkeys!
The desalination plants have been destroyed, but fortunately there is an alternative: solar-powered suitcases capable of purifying up to 300 litres of water an hour.
Cost of one suitcase: €3,000. As soon as conditions allow, we hope to bring several in. And while we fight to maintain aid where it is still possible, elsewhere it is collapsing in silence.
Ukraine: aid is collapsing, needs remain
Humanitarian funding has fallen by 40%. Our training centres — Lviv, Kharkiv, and in hospitals along the front line — are living on borrowed time.
In three years, 7,800 health workers and 450 surgeons have been trained in war medicine. But humanitarian grants have melted away: from €1.5 million to €250,000 for the coming year.
Should we stop everything? When needs are exploding. When the war itself has never stopped.
On the ground, the population is sinking into a silent crisis. The elderly, the unemployed, displaced people… live solely on humanitarian aid. The media no longer talk about it. But we are staying.
And what if part of the solution lay in supporting local associations that distribute food and essential goods every day? Yes, it is one of the keys. Local associations are on the front line.
In Syria: the crisis drags on!
From 21 April to 4 June 2025, our Ibsar project (“Sight”), which corrects the eyesight of children living in great hardship in displacement camps, continued its work.
The results speak for themselves: • 702 people examined, including 306 children • 37 pairs of glasses already distributed • 94 ready to be handed out in the coming days
Thanks to your support, we are making progress.
In recent months, a second team has been set up in the Deir ez-Zor area of operation as part of the launch of our Ibsar 2 project.
Every child who sees better lives better, and is made less vulnerable.
Today, we are going further. We are working on launching an ultrasound project with our local partner (Mari) and have approached Expertise France for funding.
The aim: to train midwives to use ultrasound to monitor pregnant women in isolated areas. The application is under way. If it is approved, the programme will start on 1 September.
But on the ground, the challenges remain immense. Despite a change of government and a sense of freedom linked to the fall of the regime, instability remains. Insecurity persists, as does hardship: more than 60% of infrastructure is destroyed, and many refugees are coming back from Lebanon and Jordan, returning to Syria.
Syria is a country to be rebuilt. Literally. Humanly. Sustainably. And that is precisely the meaning of our projects: Rebuild. Train. Support. Together.
Acting there also means mobilising here
Charity evenings, talks, citizen mobilisation…
In recent weeks, many events have raised funds, raised awareness and rallied support for our work:
- 25 May – 6 June: Pr Pitti in Ukraine for two weeks — meetings, assessments and coordination on site
- 8 June – Longeville-lès-Metz: a support evening organised by a local association
- 14 June – Clermont-Ferrand: a talk organised by the Rotary on our humanitarian work
- 18 June – National Assembly: the president of Médecins du Monde and Pr Pitti were heard by the Foreign and European Affairs Committee. They came to testify about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as part of the examination of two draft resolutions: one on the EU–Israel association agreement, the other on possible sanctions.
- 23 June – Trier: Pr Pitti was invited as a key witness to the Franco-German Forum “International Justice and Peace”. A powerful moment, in the presence of many figures committed to these issues.
On the evening of 19 June, HuSoMe co-organised with AFPS 57 (Association France Palestine Solidarité) the preview screening of the film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, an award-winner at Cannes. The room was full, the emotion palpable. The audience was deeply moved, all the more so as the young Palestinian journalist behind the film was killed with her whole family the day after her selection for Cannes was announced.
In the face of so much injustice, gestures of solidarity take on a particular resonance. In Clichy, one of our members put their talent at the service of the cause: 10 ceramic pieces made and sold in less than an hour, €500 raised. A simple gesture, an immediate impact.
In Arlon, we want to highlight the work of Anna V. A committed activist, she organised a solidarity couscous on 7 December and several events since, in support of Palestine. Further actions are already in preparation.
And then, as in any association, there are also times for taking stock and looking ahead. The general assembly was held on 15 May, followed by the board meeting on 25 June. Valuable discussions to take stock, refine our direction and prepare what comes next. The minutes are available to members on request.
Solidarity couscous, talks in mosques, discussions in neighbourhoods: so many opportunities to bring people together, raise awareness and share testimonies from the field. All these moments are much more than fundraising: they are bridges between here and there. Thank you to everyone who makes them possible and who opens their doors, their networks and their hearts.
So thanks to you… and with you, let us go further!
Become our ambassadors
Tens of thousands of euros have been raised.
- Organise a collection, take part in an event, set up a support evening where you are.
New volunteers have joined us.
- Inspire vocations, mobilise those around you, talk about our work: every person counts.
Every time someone speaks out, we become more visible and stronger.
- Share, connect, spread the word about our work on social media, in your groups, where you live.
Because everyone can act. Because everyone can make a difference.
Nothing happens without you. And with you, everything remains possible. Thank you for being there.
“Our humanitarian projects and our local social action are committed to defending Life through health training, preserving dignity and defending humanity. Humanism must be coupled with action, and each and every one of us has a role to play in helping our neighbour.”
