IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
19 January 2009
Distributing bread in Gaza
A ceasefire has been announced and the shelling has stopped. At the
beginning I didn't believe it as in the early morning I could hear the
sound of heavy fire and then the sound of the F-16s and the drones
which never left Gaza's sky for three weeks.
Outside my home I
saw more people going out to visit their families and loved ones and to
find out how they have coped and to catch up on news. Many sorrowful
stories are being shared today.
I saw a numbers of moving cars.
I saw a lot of displaced people rushing to see what happened with their
homes. Many tents have been set up to receive mourners so people can
pay their condolences.
The people I met today were very sad and
exhausted. I saw many of my friends and colleagues whom I haven't seen
for more than 22 days. We hugged each other as if we hadn't met for
years.
This is war has destroyed a lot of things in Gaza. The
war has violently impacted on homes, mosques, schools, institutions,
roads and more importantly on the hearts of people.
Many Gazans are said to be exhausted by the conflict.
I
have seen things which I will never forget all my life. I remember a
nine-year-old girl who was holding her baby sister in one of the
shelters in Gaza. They became orphans.
I also can't forget a
mother who was crying for many days after losing her son. Also, a
father who was struggling to feed his small children.
Entire families have been devastated and many women have been widowed. A lot of fathers lost their wives and children.
Islamic
Relief's programmes in Gaza will be working to support orphans and
widows - to ensure that they have food and widowed women and men are
able to earn money to feed their families through livelihoods projects.
An
estimated 1,300 Palestinians died during the attacks on the Gaza Strip.
It is believed that half of those that died are civilians. Doctors have
told me that the numbers of dead will rise as hundreds of patients are
in critical conditions and may not survive.
I spent most of the
day with the Islamic Relief team distributing aid in the north of Gaza
Strip, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. We handed out bread to
hundreds of displaced people.
I met Wisal, an eight-year-old
girl, who told me the ceiling of her home had fallen on her and her
family two weeks ago. They survived but their neighbour was killed.
I
met another child, Mahmoud, 12, who had a similar story but his hand
was critically injured. Wisal and Mahmoud are two children among
thousands who had awful stories.
Today tens of dead bodies were
dug out from under the rubble of homes. Surviving family members had to
wait until the ceasefire to try and find out if their loved ones had
survived. Miracles are few and far between in shattered Gaza and all
people found were bodies.
For the past 22 days, Islamic Relief
Worldwide in Gaza has some how managed to keep working despite the
dangers that our teams face. Thankfully none of the aid workers were
injured but the scenes they saw will have a long term effect for sure.
Islamic Relief Worldwide is working very hard to alleviate the
suffering of the desperate people of Gaza.
We have provided
hospitals in the Gaza Strip with urgent medical equipment such as heart
machines, IV fluid drips and ambulances. We have also supplied
hospitals with medicine, food and blankets for the injured and
displaced.
Today, we delivered three major hospitals with life
saving medical equipment such equipments such as DC shock machines,
heart monitors, fusion pumps, ventilators and equipment for operating
rooms. The level of damage and destruction is huge and Islamic Relief
Worldwide will spend years trying to assist the people of Gaza to
rebuild their lives.
Today - I fully understood just how much we
must do to rebuild and revive the lives of Gazans - my people and the
place that I call home.
29 June 2009 26 June 2009 26 June 2009 25 June 2009 25 June 2009 17 April 2009 01 April 2009 24 February 2009 11 February 2009 06 February 2009 06 February 2009 05 February 2009 04 February 2009 02 February 2009 29 January 2009 27 January 2009 26 January 2009 26 January 2009 23 January 2009 19 January 2009 15 January 2009 14 January 2009 13 January 2009 12 January 2009 09 January 2009 08 January 2009 07 January 2009 07 January 2009 07 January 2009 05 January 2009 05 January 2009 03 January 2009 02 January 2009 02 January 2009 31 December 2008 31 December 2008 30 December 2008 29 December 2008 27 December 2008 07 February 2008
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