MECA works to protect the rights and improve the lives of children in Palestine and Syrian refugees through aid, empowerment and education.

The Gaza Sunbirds are a 20-strong team of paracyclists from the heart of the Gaza Strip. The team is composed of extraordinary individuals who have faced the ravages of war and have emerged with an unyielding spirit and a shared dream - to represent Palestine on the global stage.

The Original Gaza Sunbird

Alaa al-Dali was an Olympic hopeful cyclist when his leg was shot to pieces by an Israeli sniper on 30 March 2018. Alaa was standing alone in his cycling gear, with his bike, as he watched a March of Return demonstration, 250 metres from the separation fence east of Rafah.

“The bullet [was] like a small grenade. It almost disintegrated the bone of my leg, 22cm of it. The muscle, arteries and veins were totally damaged. The doctor said he has never seen anything like it,” Alaa says, “I needed to make a choice; either the amputation or losing my life. After thinking a lot, I gave my consent to cut the leg. It was a very hard decision to make.” Quote taken from an Al Jazeera article.

Despite coming close to death, Alaa has made a good recovery and has channelled his energies into establishing an amputee cycling team within Gaza — called the Gaza Sunbirds. Alaa’s dream is to take the whole team to France to take part in the 2024 Paralympics and we would like to help make that dream a reality.

Since the bombardment began on 7th October, the Gaza Sunbirds have halted their training program and are working to distribute food parcels and aid around Gaza. For a few weeks they were using their bikes to deliver freshly baked bread, but their bikes have now been hit by an airstrike, so they are doing what they can on foot and in vehicles.

To learn more about what the Sunbirds are doing to distribute aid in Gaza follow them on Instagram: @gazasunbirds

To find out more about the Sunbirds, visit this page:

https://www.amostrust.org/palestine-justice/gaza/gaza-sunbirds/