DAY 1: A PROMPT BY ABEER AMEER

WRITING PROMPTS TO SUPPORT CHILDREN IN GAZA

UNICEF reports that in Gaza, “hundreds of thousands of children and families are caught in a catastrophic situation” and that, as of October 31st 2023, over 3000 children have been killed and more than 6000 have been injured “due to unrelenting attacks”, while a thousand others are missing. Outlining the charity’s Appeal for Children in Gaza, UNICEF spokesman James Elder explains: “Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.” Elder has also called for “children held hostage in Gaza [to] be immediately reunited with their families and loved ones”. Recent updates state that “hundreds of thousands of children … remain trapped in a war zone with little or no access to food, water, electricity, medicine or medical care”.

For the duration of NaNoWriMo 2023, we will be posting a writing prompt every day and in doing so, we encourage our community to donate to charities providing medical aid to children in desperate need in this unprecedented crisis. These prompts have been created by writers from Wales or with a connection to Wales and its magazines and presses. The prompts are on all kinds of subjects, but many are related to anti-violence and the work of empathy, and they are offered with the simple hope that they might encourage people to donate in support of medical aid in Gaza. We include a list of suggested charities to donate to below, highlighting the Appeal for Children in Gaza.

UNICEF “continues to call for an immediate ceasefire as 1.1 million people — nearly half of them children — in northern Gaza have been warned to move out of the way of a widescale military assault, but with nowhere safe for them to go”. Elder concludes: “The humanitarian situation has reached lethal lows, and yet all reports point to further attacks. Compassion – and international law – must prevail.”

Please see the list of suggested charities at the end of the post. A new prompt will be posted until at least the end of November 2023.

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DAY 1: ABEER AMEER

For an Olive Tree

They planted so we may eat. We plant so they may eat – Palestinian proverb.

The olive tree sapling which you have nurtured is ready to plant in the ground. Think of how it grows and its needs to be healthy. Imagine what it represents. This sapling will be planted in Gaza.

Write a prayer or blessing of well-wishes for the sapling. Imagine its roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and fruits. Imagine its earths, air and the place that will hold it. Address your poem to the olive tree sapling.

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Please consider donating what you can to a charity providing medical aid in Gaza. We recommend UNICEF’s Appeal for Children in Gaza, but other charities include:

• Medical Aid for Palestinians
• Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
• The World Food Programme
• Doctors Without Borders