From September 1 to October 30, 2007, the El-Amal Society for Children's Care distributed 1,000 articles of clothing and 200 school bags to children ranging in age from 4 to 10 years' old.

They called the project "basma" -- Arabic for smile. For 700 children under the care of the El-Amal Society in Gaza's Khan Yunis refugee camp, school bags and clothing purchased with UPA assistance have meant one less worry for their families -- and one reason to smile.

For us at UPA, it's one modest way of showing that the children of Gaza, now more besieged than ever by the realities around them, are not forgotten.

From their perspective, that would be a too-easy conclusion. It's not so much the physical isolation, policed by the persistent hum of invisible -- but no less the menacing -- military drones. Neither is it the despair on their elders' faces. These are, by now, the familiar features of a Gaza childhood.

What's unfamiliar in Gaza today is a near total psychological isolation, not only from the stone's-throw West Bank but from the world at large.

A staff member at one UPA partner organization in Gaza, for example, told how her email inbox, once overflowing with hundreds of messages a day -- from donors, partners, and supporters worldwide -- now remains virtually empty.

With their fears of isolation rivaled only by the outside world's fear of contact, Gaza's children have no choice but to go on with their lives. The will is theirs, as is the courage. Helping to sustain both is our role as unwilling witnesses to their suffering.

To learn more about UPA's work in community development and how you can help sustain Palestinian lives, please click here.