Tuesday’s Child Blog

Following Yonder Star to Gaza – Day 5
Saturday 9th January 2010

“My joy is now full” John 3;22-30

Today we are having a party in the Middle Area for 300 children. Clowns, face-painting, cartoon characters, music, dancing and drawing and colouring pictures are arranged for the children and the gifts have been sent ahead to the venue. The word of the party has spread through the locality and children and mothers cram the venue. Today seems busier than the first party. It is great to see so many happy smiling children excited about the fun ahead.

The party opens with a prayer from the Koran and then the fun begins. Many children come up and introduce themselves and say hello and thank us for the party. One little girl, who lost her father last year, latches on and everywhere we go she follows.

The music and the singing starts and hundreds of little voices join in. The atmosphere is fantastic. Mothers who have come along, enjoy the fun as much as the children. Children perform their own dance routines; they are very creative.

Children perform a dance they have choreographed themselves!

Dancing queen

Clown mimes a story for the children

Children in the face painting area

Mothers join in the fun

Peace, peace, peace

I take a break from the dancing and drop into the room where some children are drawing pictures. On the way I meet a little boy, who is on his own and not joining in. I talk to him in the little arabic I have and he tells me his name is Ahmed. He has lost a leg. Hand in hand we visit the room where some kids are painting, however he doesn’t want to join them. His mother died of cancer; his leg was amputated as he has the same condition. He is in need of treatment and requires transfer out of Gaza but transfer is refused. How difficult life must be for this little boy, who has lost his mother and his leg and lives under siege. I tell him he is very brave and he gives me a huge smile. He still doesn’t fancy drawing or having his face painted. Later on he joins other children from his village for lunch.

Ahmed, 9 yrs

Ahmed joins other children for lunch

As lunch is served, I notice again that while children all drink their cartons of juice, many hold onto the food to bring home. Others hand the food to their mothers. Yet they must be hungry for the party has been going for over 2 hrs and many of them have travelled quite a distance. How generous and considerate these children are.

After lunch children queue up for their gifts. The many children who turned up unexpectedly are not left out; we have surplus toys and everyone leaves with something. It is such a pleasure to see their little faces beam when they receive their gifts.

A group of mothers joke and ask where their gifts are! They ask me to bring them some nice things from Ireland next time. How challenging life must be for these women, bringing up their children in such extreme adversity. One Mum calls me to one side and asks if I can speak with her about her son. She lifts his shirt and reveals the most horrific burn scars all over his torso and back. One would never guess from his happy smiling face, he suffered so much. White phosphorus she explains. The mass of scar tissue brings back the reality of Operation Cast Lead. The little boy would need a referral to a plastic surgeon.

In another area, children are listening to a story, and others are having a sing-song. There is quite a queue for the face-painting. Others prefer the few slides and swings and the roundabout is packed to capacity. Back in the main venue, the music and dancing continues. Groups of children do their own dance routines and others handstands and cartwheels. It’s a children’s carnival!

Sisters and friends

Mums and friends

Mother and child, some of the many who joined the party unexpectedly

Swings and roundabouts

Two little boys

Two little girls

Group of children listen to a story

Time to go home

It is time to go home now. Many children pile onto donkey drawn carts, many others walk with their parents and others pile into buses.

Children say good-bye from one of the buses

I can still hear shouts of Masalama and Chukhran from one of the buses some distance away and the children continue to wave and shout until the bus is out of sight. I wonder what home situations they are returning too and what they will have for dinner, saved party food apart.

Masalama

Once the last of the children leave, we sit and have lunch and reflect on the party. I congratulate the team on another fantastic fun-filled event.

Now that we are in the middle area we will spend the rest of the afternoon visiting families who are part of the feeding programme here.

The first stop is with Abdul and his wife and 5 children. Abdul is unemployed and also has a heart condition. He evacuated his home during the last war and gives thanks that all the family survived it. They are totally reliant on humanitarian aid. We give cash assistance and toys and sweets for the children. The three older children here want to be a doctor, an engineer and a teacher. Overhead, a strange looking crop hangs from dried leaves and I ask what it is. One is plucked, peeled and presented. It’s a loofah! Just what I need I tell them! Surely there is an industry in these and they could sell them at the market, but then I guess body scrubbing is a luxury in Gaza!

Abdul and his family

Loofahs grow overhead

Loofah peeled and presented as a gift.

We move onto our next family, Ahmed and Hamee and their children. A small well tended patch for onions is the only source of income and so again this family almost fully dependent on aid and we give the same support. In this home we have two budding doctors, a journalist and a teacher. How will they ever fulfil their dreams on the proceeds of a tiny onion plot. The toys and sweets are a big hit and soon the word of sweets spreads with many more kids arriving at the gate of the family home, hopeful for some treats!

Ahmed and Hamee’s family

Children gather at the gate

Onion plot at the front of the family home

We bid farewell and drive down a country lane to our next stop, a very poor abode outside of which a donkey looks on at the arriving group

When we go inside I recognise one of the children, Sala, from the party earlier on, albeit without his face painting now! Ibrahim lives here with his children and grandchildren. They are new to the feeding programme. His wife is in hospital, recovering from a heart-attack. She was ill for some time before her hospital admission and also has difficulty with her breathing. I sit on the floor and lean against stacked sacks of grain, food for their three goats. UNRWA also gives food to this household for 3 of the family (in-laws) who are refugees. I ask Ibrahim, what help he needs. He replies Thank God for the offer of help, any help he can give us is very good! I chat to some of the younger folk in the house. Ead, one of his sons, is 18 yrs old, he left school aged 14 yrs to help his father and he drives the donkey and cart to and from the market and helps his father. Sala who is 14 years old often works instead of going to school to help bring in some money. “My mother has been sick for a long time and her medicines are expensive so I work to help with the cost of these. I work on the donkey and cart and do any jobs I can get, even just taking people to where they want to go”, he says. I offer to help with this if he will go back to school and he agrees. He tells me he wants to be a footballer when he grows up and play for Palestine! We leave cash assistance for food and medicines. The aid coordinator will visit the hospital and leave this with their mother.

Family donkey

Ibrahim with 4 of his grandchildren

We thank Ibrahim for his time. Sala promises to go back to school if we help his mother with her medicines and we shake hands on the arrangement.

Sala, 14 yrs who works to help pay for his mother’s medicines

We drive to our next family and pass a little girl sitting on the side of the road on her own. It is unusual to see a child alone in Gaza!

Little girl alone

Our next stop is with Abdullah and Fahtma and their family, perhaps one of the most colourful I have met in my 3 field visits to Gaza. They are Bedouins, originally from Beersheeba. Home to 24 people, their’s is a lively household. They have been in the feeding programme from the beginning and are very grateful for the food they receive however with so many in the home, it only lasts for about a week! Abdullah used to work in Israel but now he has returned to a little farming and has a few plots of vegetables. Career dreams in this household include: doctors, teachers, a headmaster of a school and a lawyer. All of the children say their favourite school subject is Arabic. I asked what it was like for them in the war. “We had to leave our home, everything and went just as we were standing to a school and stayed there. One of my sons was injured but he is OK now. When we returned, the house was badly damaged- the roof, doors and windows all destroyed. I ask Abdullah what he feels the solution is to the blockade. “Only God will raise the siege and bring peace. Things are not good here and yesterday there was a lot of shooting from the border into this area”. I ask if there is anything he needs. He tells me, more food for the family, a goat, a warm jacket and a new wife! He asks if I am available, much to the amusement of his family; I assure him I am not. The food, jacket and goat we can do something about. Joking apart, Abdhullah has great wisdom. We leave, as we do in each home, cash assistance, food supplements, toys and sweets.

Abdullah, Fahtma and their extended family

Abdullah waves us off

Just up the road we call with the next family here, Ahmed and his family and their 13 children. They also look after a little boy, who has no one to care for him. They have benefited from the food programme since the beginning, but with increasing prices, the coupon does not go as far. We also get some food form UNRWA but it does not last long, only 5 days.

Ahmed speaks of the war. “We left our home here as it is so close to the border and went to live with other families. It was a difficult time. There was very little food and water and we were all very frightened. My wife was shot in the leg from a stray bullet but apart from that all of us are ok thank God. However, the children are very afraid and very nervous. Each night, shots from the border are fired off into the sky as a warning to the people here. We are never fully at ease, there is always the worry that they are so close and they will come in at anytime”. I ask his views on the future and he says “Our future is very dark, we have no hope. The world does not care. This convoy of aid that arrived, this will never come to ordinary poor families like us. We pray to God all the time that he will protect us and bring peace”. Built into the wall of the house I notice a hen coup. “Eggs for the children”, he explains. In this family some of the children want to be doctors and teachers, the others are unsure.

Ahmed, Fahtma and family

Hen coup

We have to move on as dusk is upon us and we have two more families in the region to meet. The first of these is a family of 8 who have benefited from the feeding programme. They kindly offer us tea and fresh peas from their small plot. They have been in the food programme from the beginning and the food lasts between 14-20 days. The reason we are here is to support their 19 year old son Mohammed who has completed one year at university, but unable to continue as the family have no money for his fees. We agree to fund his fees for the next two years and give his mother the first 6 months tonight. I ask the other children, what they hope to study when their time comes to choose. Alaa wants to be a doctor, Atif wants to do sports and Farez is also interested in sports studies. For now we will support Mohammed in his degree in community rehabilitation.

Dusk in rural Gaza

Mohammed (centre) with his family

It is dark when we leave Mohammed and his family. We have one last stop tonight, with Mona and her family who have been in the food programme from the beginning. I first met Mona and her 10 children on our first visit to Gaza in August 2008. Her home was demolished by and Israeli tank, she lost everything and a few months later she also lost her husband. We have returned each visit to see Mona and give her assistance. She is looking better since the last time I met her in July. Unfortunately, we can’t stay long this time as it is dark and our driver is keen to leave the area as it is so close to the border. I give Mona her envelope and some vitamin and mineral supplements and give the children toys and sweets. Next time we will stay longer.

Mona with 4 of her 10 children

We drive back to Gaza city, tired but content. Today was very productive. I pray for all the people we have met today, most of all the children and I ask God to watch over them and protect them. May peace come soon.

If you are in a position to help any of the families we met during our time in Gaza, please contact us at info@tuesdayschild.co.uk or donate online here »

Continue to read Day 6 »