Sponsored child flees from the fighting in Rafah
“We had to abandon the house immediately,” said 60-year-old head of the family Salim, who is sick and unemployed. “Bullets riddled our tin shack and a missile exploded outside our doorstep. It was too dangerous for us to remain there. So, we fled without taking anything with us, not even my medicine.”
Tens of other families left that Friday night after Israeli army tanks entered the village. Ten thousand people live in the Shokeh. Most of them depend on agricultural and cattle for their livelihood.
Fuad who still finds it hard to hear properly since the missile exploded outside his house says: “My brothers, sisters and I woke up frightened and shaking, but had no time to catch our breaths. We could not even take some clothes with us.”
Bullets riddled our tin shack and a missile exploded outside our doorstep. It was too dangerous for us to remain there. So, we fled without taking anything with us, not even my medicine Fuad and his family had to walk in the middle of the night to the neighbouring city of Rafah. Fuad was so frightened that he did not know how long it took them to reach Rafah – to him, it seemed like an eternity. According to ADP staff it takes a healthy man at least an hour to walk from Shokeh to the city, but Fuad and his family had to walk under constant gunfire and it must have taken them a longer time especially for his sick father.
The family is now living in very difficult conditions in a tent camp in an open area outside Rafah with 20 to 30 other families from their community. They have no access to running water, bathrooms or even kitchens to cook for their children.
They are totally dependent on United Nations and NGOs for food and water, but World Vision plans to include the families in the camp in a forthcoming food distribution that will encompass about 4,000 in Gaza. Each family will receive a package with 20 food items such as powdered milk, canned foods and cooking oil.
They have no access to running water, bathrooms or even kitchens to cook for their children Fuad and the other boys in the camp have an old football, which is the only thing that brings pleasure into their lives. The children use the open space outside the camp to play among the sheep and camels that some families brought with them.
Gaza Office Manager Yasser Toshtash says that the herds are very important for these families. They are the only source of livelihood left for them and they couldn’t risk leaving them behind.
Salim is thankful to God for being able to escape with his wife and nine children without anyone of them being harmed. Nevertheless, he is very concerned for his home. He is afraid that it could be demolished and when he returns he would still have to live in a tent.
He says, “All I want now is to be able to go back to my home and live in peace with my family.”
Tens of other families left that Friday night after Israeli army tanks entered the village. Ten thousand people live in the Shokeh. Most of them depend on agricultural and cattle for their livelihood.
Fuad who still finds it hard to hear properly since the missile exploded outside his house says: “My brothers, sisters and I woke up frightened and shaking, but had no time to catch our breaths. We could not even take some clothes with us.”
Bullets riddled our tin shack and a missile exploded outside our doorstep. It was too dangerous for us to remain there. So, we fled without taking anything with us, not even my medicine Fuad and his family had to walk in the middle of the night to the neighbouring city of Rafah. Fuad was so frightened that he did not know how long it took them to reach Rafah – to him, it seemed like an eternity. According to ADP staff it takes a healthy man at least an hour to walk from Shokeh to the city, but Fuad and his family had to walk under constant gunfire and it must have taken them a longer time especially for his sick father.
The family is now living in very difficult conditions in a tent camp in an open area outside Rafah with 20 to 30 other families from their community. They have no access to running water, bathrooms or even kitchens to cook for their children.
They are totally dependent on United Nations and NGOs for food and water, but World Vision plans to include the families in the camp in a forthcoming food distribution that will encompass about 4,000 in Gaza. Each family will receive a package with 20 food items such as powdered milk, canned foods and cooking oil.
They have no access to running water, bathrooms or even kitchens to cook for their children Fuad and the other boys in the camp have an old football, which is the only thing that brings pleasure into their lives. The children use the open space outside the camp to play among the sheep and camels that some families brought with them.
Gaza Office Manager Yasser Toshtash says that the herds are very important for these families. They are the only source of livelihood left for them and they couldn’t risk leaving them behind.
Salim is thankful to God for being able to escape with his wife and nine children without anyone of them being harmed. Nevertheless, he is very concerned for his home. He is afraid that it could be demolished and when he returns he would still have to live in a tent.
He says, “All I want now is to be able to go back to my home and live in peace with my family.”
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