Hello, my name is Meshelle and I am partaking on a bike ride from Wellington to Queenstown to raise money for children in Gaza.

Since the violence escalated on 7 October, thousands of children have been killed or injured, taken hostage, separated from their parents and loved ones and a whole barrage of atrocities, inflicted on the most vulnerable.

Over 1.9 million people have become internally displaced, around half of them children, and many have sought refuge in overcrowded shelters with extremely limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene – conditions that are especially dangerous for young children. Gaza is now on the verge of famine, with 1 in 10 young children now acutely malnourished. Over 60% of homes have been damaged or destroyed, hospitals are being attacked and most areas are littered with unexploded ordnance.

I want to Raise money to Donate to Unicef Emergency Appeal Children of Gaza Crisis. My goal is $1200, for the 1200km I will be cycling. Any donation, great or small, will go a long way.

These children don’t have anything to do with this conflict. Yet they are suffering like no child should ever suffer. Not a single child, whatever the religion, the nationality, the language, the race, no child should ever be exposed to the level of violence seen on the 7th of October, or to the level of violence that we have witnessed since then.