Gaza - feeding our family

After nearly two years of blockade, getting groceries in Gaza isn’t just a question of visiting the supermarket. Twelve-year-old Aya Fehaid Debary and her mother Amna had to collect a food parcel from World Vision’s distribution centre using their only mode of transport – a donkey and cart. Aya is one of eight children, and Amna is dependent on others’ help to support them, as her husband died six years ago.

Amna says: "Aya is always the first to want to help me around the house," which is why she accompanied her mother on the journey to the food parcel distribution centre in southern Gaza near the city of Rafah.

Aya is a twin, and studies alongside her sister in grade six at the local school. She is shy, but admits that she loves to sing and wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

Since the conflict ended in January, World Vision has provided food parcels and hygiene kits to 16,000 families like Amna’s, which are approximately 80,000 people.

A friendly refuge

World Vision is also providing psychosocial care for children affected by the war. Child Friendly Spaces provide a safe environment for children to play, learn and begin to deal with the trauma they’ve been through. Recreational activities such as puppet shows and games involve the children directly, while their mothers participate in workshops on how to best protect and reassure them. Child Friendly Spaces are reaching 1,200 young children in the north and 1,000 in the south of Gaza.

Before the recent conflict, World Vision conducted research among 307 children in Rafah indicating that even before the bombing, children suffered severe psychological anxiety as a result of their exposure to violence.  For example, the report indicated that 25.2 per cent of children suffered from severe post traumatic stress reactions.  The violence to which these children have been exposed is extraordinary: 30.9 per cent of children reported witnessing the killing of a friend or close relative, and 51.7 per cent had witnessed people being killed by rockets.

“As a child-focused agency, we are deeply concerned about the lasting impact this violence is having on children, who make up half of Gaza’s population and who have just endured highly traumatic events,” said World Vision Jerusalem’s National Director, Charles Clayton. “Both Palestinian and Israeli children suffer from the conflict, and addressing their needs requires psychosocial support.”