Update from Gaza amid "Massacre of innocents"

The "massacre of innocents" as the Independent newspaper described the shelling of theal-Fakhoura school, under the blue and white flag of the UN has shown us again that no NGO (even ones which work with children on both sides and run peace projects in Palestine) is safe. We have had to close our Gaza hospital and send home critically ill children. Now we sit frightened and try to reassured the children who are terrified by low fighter planes and the noise of war.

SOS Children’s Village Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine

All of the resident children and staff at the SOS Children’s Village are, at the time of writing, unharmed. However, everyone is very frightened by the conflict, the SOS Schools and Medical Centre have had to close for safety, and some of the families supported in the local community have directly suffered.

Below is an update about how the Children’s Village is coping with the current violence, and an update on the Village in general, including what activities the children have been up to over the past few months.

Conflict: interview with the Rafah Village Director, Wael Abu Mustafa

1) What is the situation in terms of supplies, specifically cooking gas which was previously unavailable in the Village?

Currently the Village has a two-week supply of basic goods (flour, oil, rice, etc…). We were able to obtain gas, essential for both cooking and heating, on the black market for exorbitant prices. Although we have a generator for the Village, we are conserving energy and only using it when necessary.

2) How is the general safety of the Village, children and staff?

Because Rafah is located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, we are relatively safe compared to other areas. However, there have been attacks in nearby locations. We are mostly subject to fighter planes flying above us and fighter ships that shoot from nearby as we are located very close to the sea.

3) How are the staff and their families dealing with the situation?

The SOS mothers, resident children and I live in the Village, but since the attacks began on December 27, other staff members (who live outside of the Village) have had to stay at home since they cannot commute safely to work. We keep in contact with our employees and their families and so far they are all unharmed but some have had to flee their homes and stay nearby with others.

Stories from the SOS mothers and children about the conflict

According to Elham, an SOS Mother, "the situation has been very difficult and all the surrounding shops have closed and have no supplies. Luckily, our Village Director was able to purchase the supplies we needed from the black market. We are thankful to him and we don’t know how he was able to secure the supplies for the whole Village. It is very hard to bring such supplies for your family, let alone the entire Village. We feel very safe and protected in the Village; however, nothing can protect us from the planes flying above us, which have been scaring our children very much. The sounds of war are all around us and especially in the night. Many of the children scream when they hear the fighter planes, so we have to constantly comfort and assure them that everything will be okay. Our children are also fearful for the safety of their biological relatives and this is a hard issue to deal with as we can not guarantee their protection. To distract them, we have been organizing games and other fun activities for them in the Village. Thankfully, so far, none of the ground troops have reached our area."

According to Hannah, 13, who has been living in Village for three years, "this is a very difficult situation, because we cannot go anywhere. We can't go to school or leave the village. Although we feel protected inside the village, nothing seems to be able to calm us. At night we awake to the sounds of war and everyone starts crying, so gather and pray, while the Village father, SOS mothers, and youth leaders try to calm us down. We have been trying our best to remain strong, so that our younger SOS siblings are not scared. We have been trying to assure them that everything will be okay, but we can not always hide our own fears. I have not been able to visit my biological relatives who live in Rafah because of the security situation, but I pray that they are and will stay safe. I thank all our supporters from my heart. I am thankful that the Village is here to protect me and my sisters."

The SOS Children's Village in the Gaza Strip is based in Deir Sultan, 10 miles from Rafah-Gaza and comprises 14 family houses for 140 children and a nursery with room for 160, mostly local, children.

Community work and the conflict

The SOS Social Centre, which runs the FSP, has been closed since the campaign began on December 27th and staff and volunteers are having to stay at home. Even the emergency medical centre has been shut, forced to discharge patients - even those who are in a critical condition. Government buildings close to the Social Centre have been destroyed by air strikes.

Gaza is witnessing shortages of food and medical supplies and its hospitals can barely cope with the number of injured patients arriving. Many residents of Gaza have fled their homes to seek refuge in the streets, despite the cold weather. In response to the crisis, SOS Children, through its FSP, is helping 900 children in 187 families by providing food parcels, academic support and child care activities.

Many children and their families have also been displaced after their houses were destroyed by air raids. Many families whose houses remain intact have fled fearing they too may be targeted. SOS Children staff are working hard to provide not only basic food supplies, but also to offer psychological support to children who have been affected.

Sadly, a 13 year-old child from an FSP family in the northern town of Jabaliya has been severely wounded. The hospital, which has been operating well above capacity since the beginning of the recent conflict escalation, had to discharge him despite his critical health condition.

Children’s activities in 2008 - report written by Village Director Wael Abu Mustafa

Over the last few months, the children have been growing well and all are healthy, except for normal illness like cold or flu, etc. One little boy, Mohamed, his leg got broken while he was playing football with his friends in the village playground but now he is doing well.

Recently, six orphan children from one family who lost their parents were brought to the Village. Their ages are between five months and ten years. They are heartily welcomed by their SOS mother, siblings at the SOS home and all SOS families and staff. The children miss their original family so much that they cry most of the time. The kind SOS mother offers all her compassion and love to make them feel at home, and she pays a great attention and care to the two youngest children. Step by step the children begin to adjust to their new family.

The children had a nice summer vacation which was full of many activities: clown shows, invitations to cinema festival or theatre, summer camps, trips to the beach and other nice places they enjoyed to visit. This made them so happy, active and full of life. Also, with all this big joy, the Village director accompanied SOS families to Leadoo Park where they had a lot of fun playing games with big balloons. In the park, there were two swimming pools and the children spent happy times swimming. They enjoyed their lunch in a nice restaurant in the park. All the children and mothers returned to the village with a big smile on their faces.

SOS Rafah has great pleasure to announce completion and launching of the Music Room. A music teacher and some assistants played the first melodies and tunes on the instruments by playing some traditional Arabic music and songs. Besides, a group of children were selected to be the first to learn on the music instruments to join the Village's folklore music band and the choral band. Music lessons were scheduled for the school's students also. The Village's Director watched the process closely from the first day the Music Room started its first step and has done lots of efforts to make the project see the light and bring a smile and laughter to the faces of the children. [NB music is proving useful at the moment in helping the children to relax and overcome fright.]

September first, the students in school and kindergarten started new schooling year with great joy. In the first day the students were provided with their new uniforms, books and complete stationary for the first term. [NB: both the SOS Schools have had to close during the conflict.]

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