#HearTheirVoices Like no winter before it
Blog by Mona, UNRWA Health Staff
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This winter is different from any one before it. We used to visit dilapidated homes with crumbling walls and leaky roofs, distributing blankets, heaters and other items to help keep Palestine Refugees in Gaza warm as part of the UNRWA winterization campaign. In spite of the poor conditions, we would always see children jump over puddles in the streets, creating their joy, seemingly unaware of the harsh conditions surrounding them. Not so this year.
We lived in luxury without knowing it; this war turned the lives of Palestine Refugees into a tragedy, robbing children even of the simplest joys they once created in narrow alleys of the camp. The camps are no more, and jumping around in the rain in front of their homes has become an elusive dream, a beautiful memory they will tell their children about if they survive the war and live to reach maturity.
I, myself, am displaced from the Middle area of the Gaza Strip. During the recent winter storm, I walked far to reach the UNRWA school in the Deir al-Balah Palestine Refugee camp, which is overcrowded and poorly structured. The streets were flooded with wastewater, and the smell of sewage emanated from every corner of the camp. But I considered myself fortunate because I found a relative's house nearby to accommodate me and protect me from the storm, while hundreds of thousands of displaced people spent the night in the rain in fragile tents that did not prevent rainwater from soaking their clothes, sleeping mats and blankets, if they even had them.
Fatima Abu Rashid and her family are among them. They lived through one of the hardest nights of their lives. Along with her seven children, including Fatima’s 10-year-old child living with a disability, she recounted her escape from her home. "They started shelling our neighborhood in Deir al-Balah. The air filled with dust. I couldn't see any of my children. I screamed in every direction, calling them to make sure they were alive. I gathered them and carried my 10-year-old and left the house. Debris was scattered everywhere. I left just seconds before the entire house collapsed. We lost three of our relatives who lived around us. My husband and my eldest son were injured. They are with us now in this tent."
This family fled their home without rescuing a single item of clothing from the rubble. They now live in a tent in the Deir al-Balah school-turned-shelter for those who have lost their homes.
Fleeing under fire and amidst debris does not give you a chance to think about what clothes or food you need; mothers only think about getting their children out alive. Survival in these moments becomes an outstanding achievement.
Fatima gave us a little of her time to tell us about her circumstances before taking her daughters to hospital after the night’s winter storm. Their few clothes were soaked, and they contracted a severe cold and cough. "It was a tough night, the sound of the wind whistling, and the sounds of artillery explosions mixed with the sound of thunder. My children shivered from the cold. A kind family brought us some winter clothes, but they were not enough for all of us," she said.
UNRWA is currently hosting over 1.4 million Palestinians in 155 shelters. Overcrowding has presented major health and sanitation challenges. On average, 394 people sheltering in UNRWA schools share a single toilet. There is one shower unit for every 2,900 people. UNRWA calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, as the repercussions of the hostilities that have continued for more than 92 days are reaching a critical point. The onset of winter puts Fatima’s family and more than 1 million others at risk, as they face life with little more than a tarp tent between themselves and the elements.
