News from the Gaza Team
The genocide continues, even though it is not in the news. As well as bombs, there are bullet wounds from drones or snipers. There is a slight increase in aid, but huge shortages of clean water. There is a plague of rats and insects. We keep as clean and as active as possible to resist the attempt to destroy us.
Welcoming back Jaber
Jaber writes
“a couple of weeks ago our friend and companion Fedaa Al-leddawi, the Days of Joy storyteller, returned to Gaza, after two years of medical treatment in Egypt. His journey started from under the rubble of his bombarded home where he lost his dearest possessions: his wife, and two children Lian and Mohamed. He left Gaza in a coma battling between life and death. After two years of pain, absence and longing, he has returned to where he left his heart, memories and every detail of his life.
Fedaa, your return to Gaza is not only the return of a person, but the return of a soul that resisted death despite all this pain.”
Sharing of Practice
Said and Mohamed Altawil can demonstrate resistance to destruction and fragmentation by welcoming an online connection to a West Bank mental health group in Tulkarem. They exchange good practice and have started training programmes for each other. Said tells of the opening of a new mental health centre in Gaza: “a new rose planted in a field of death”.
“It opened in the devastated city of Khan Younis. It will provide hundreds of patients with free services every day and a new life will be written for them in Human Dignity Care Facilities. It is run by MAP.
The war has destroyed six mental health clinics and the only psychiatric hospital in Gaza, and yet we are determined to bring life back and plant seeds of hope.”
More Tragedy Amid Such Loss
Tragic news about our stilt-walker, juggler, clown: Tariq. They call him “the tall man” when he wears his long legs. He rises above the rubble, as if stepping higher than pain, and drags people's hearts behind him towards a space of joy. His work is not just a mission; it is a world in which he lives with children. He meets them every day, hears their laughter, shares their games, and tries to give them moments that make them forget fear. He knew how to create joy in their hearts, and how to make their eyes shine from the simplest things.
So, when his wife was pregnant, he wasn't just waiting for a baby… he was waiting for a whole world. However, when she was seven months pregnant, she began to suffer chronic health problems. The bombing, the materials filling the air, the lack of treatment… they all combined to exhaust her body. There was no clear diagnosis, no medication, and no safe way out for treatment. She gave birth to their baby girl, a natural birth… a moment that was supposed to be the beginning of life, but it was its end. His daughter passed away shortly after seeing the light of day. Tariq carried her in his arms, as small as an unfinished dream, and went with her to bury her. At that moment, something deep inside him broke… something that was no longer what it was. His wife was still alive, and he held on to her as his last remaining possession. Maybe her presence would ease this pain… maybe the days would give him some mercy. His wife remained in intensive care for fourteen days. Tariq was by her side, not leaving her, holding her hand, whispering to her, and waiting for a miracle. Between his frequent going to the hospital and his restless concern for his wife, he would return to stand again in front of the children, wearing his long legs, and making them happy. He worked despite his fatigue, despite his pain, because his heart was attached to drawing a smile on their faces.
He was resisting despair with all his might… but the miracle did not come. She left. Tariq stood up again, this time carrying his wife, just as he had carried his daughter before. Same road, same pain… but this time the heart was much heavier. He buried her, and came back… Nothing remained the same, nothing remained at all.”
Three of our team: Mahmoud, Fedaar and Tariq have lost their wives and children to the genocidal onslaught on Gaza, but today, as the pictures show, they find resilience in work and hope in the faces of those they help.
If you are able to help us in this regard, please consider donating towards our emergency appeal.
Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) is a UK based charity that works to provide adults and children living within the Gaza strip with access to psychological support and mental health services.
Funds donated to our emergency appeal will be used to provide direct relief to the population of the Gaza strip, to support the reconstruction and restoration of our services within the Gaza strip or to provide staff training and remuneration to our team on the ground in Gaza.
Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) is a registered UK charity (1133560) with the Charities Commission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.
