The impact of the Trump foreign aid reductions, if enacted, “would be swift, devastating, and felt for years to come, imperiling millions of lives and the course of global development, stability, and partnership.”

Many have simply walked from the city to the desert camps, a distance of 20 to 30 kilometers, says Mr. El-Mahdi. Now they confront hunger, thirst and the desert’s unforgiving sun. “The summer heat is brutal.”

After countless wars, the Palestinian citizens of a tiny strip of land surrounded by Israel find a way to persevere.

United Nations sources report that as many as 30 million are threatened by hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen—and 20 million “are at immediate risk.”

“Yes, some are H.I.V.-positive, but what is that?” asks Sister Agie. “They are precious children; they have their whole life before them.”