Counting Calories, Counting Lives: Zaina Al-Ghalayini

 At just 23, Zaina Al-Ghalayini was on the cusp of graduating with a degree in Clinical Nutrition from Al-Azhar University. She had worked hard to maintain an impressive GPA of 93.82%, and by 2024, she expected to be walking across a stage, not navigating displacement. But when the war broke out, her plans shattered. Education across Gaza came to a halt for more than six months. What was once a clear future became a cloud of uncertainty; would they ever finish their final year, or even hold their degrees in their hands?

Displaced and stripped of her normal life, Zaina could not sit idle. She volunteered with Ard Al-Insan in projects tackling child malnutrition. The work was unpaid, but it was deeply meaningful. “I loved knowing that every day I was making an impact in my community and helping children who did nothing to deserve this,” she says. It also kept her tied to her chosen field at a time when her studies had been interrupted.

When online classes resumed, she was in Al-Zawaid, where electricity was scarce, internet signals were weak, and charging devices was a daily struggle. Still, she pushed through. One of her courses required practical hospital training, so she made long, exhausting trips from Al-Zawaida to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to complete it.

At the same time, she was volunteering with International Medical Corps on their FIND AND TREAT campaign as a community leader. She walked through the neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah under a scorching sun, battling poor connectivity, to coordinate with local representatives and screen children for malnutrition. “It was exhausting, but the moment we discovered a case and referred them for treatment, I knew it was worth it," Zaina recalls.

When she finally returned to Gaza City, she completed her internship at Friends of the Patient in the pediatric ICU. With resources stretched thin, she tried to provide tube feeding for children with what little was available. Today, she works with an organization that screens pregnant and breastfeeding women for malnutrition, raising awareness about the life-saving importance of breastfeeding and complementary feeding for children.

“The days I don’t work, I feel depressed,” she admits. “It’s exhausting; the large caseloads, the bad transportation, but it makes you feel the role you’re playing in your community. You’re helping your people survive.”

Her work on the frontlines has been anything but easy. “One day during fieldwork, there was bombing very close to us. And every day, the number of malnourished children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers grows beyond anything I’ve seen before. It breaks your heart because all we can give them is nutritional supplements. They need so much more, but they can’t get it," she says. Still, moments of hope keep her going like when she sees a child recover after regular follow-ups.

She finds balance through embroidery, a small act of creativity that helps her process the overwhelming days. Her mother’s support at home has been a lifeline. “I always tell myself everything happens for a reason willed by God,” she says.

Beyond her nutrition work, Zaina has experience addressing gender-based violence, delivering psychological first aid, and running awareness sessions, skills that became urgent as violence against women escalated during the war. She also participates in youth-led community initiatives on a voluntary basis.

When asked if being a woman shapes her work, she answers without hesitation: “Yes. For women’s cases, I can understand them and speak to them with greater empathy.”

Her message to other women is simple but firm: “Start, even with something small. Keep going. You will get there.”

And her hope for the future, for herself and Gaza, is clear: “A normal life, full of safety, peace, and all the basics we need to live.”