Life in Gaza: one girl’s story of heartache and perseverance

By Lisa Sabella and Hajar Masoud

Ansam is a 14-year-old girl living in North Gaza. She lives in a simple home her father built after years of hard work; a home that lacks any furniture except a few mattresses for the children to sleep on. With a strong spirit, her father wastes no opportunity to earn a living so his family can lead good lives. Ansam’s father works as a daily wager and earns his income by driving, farming, selling and undertaking odd jobs.

“Despite our hard life, I love Gaza, and I love my family,” says Ansam, 14. “My father tries so hard. My mother has this beautiful smile when we ask for something she knows they can’t afford; a smile that says, ‘not to worry, everything will be fine’.”

Everything in Ansam’s life changed in 2008 and 2009, during the Israeli military operation known as “Cast Lead”. The conflict left 1,440 Palestinians dead, 431 or 25 per cent of whom were reportedly children, left 5,300 wounded and 90,000 homeless, according to UNICEF. Thirteen Israelis also died, according to reports by BBC.

“I will never forget those days,” recalls Ansam, who was ten-years old when the escalation in violence began. ”Bombing was everywhere, and my father did not want us to leave the room. We were all in the same room for more than twenty days with not much food and no water,” she remembers, as if it were yesterday. Even with these difficult memories, Ansam has a positive attitude. “But we were together, and my father always said that being together is the most important thing in the world.”

One day while Ansam’s family were huddling in a small room in their home, to try to protect themselves from the missiles and bombing, a large bomb suddenly struck their neighbourhood, just a meter away from Ansam’s family’s home. The blast killed Ansam’s 8-year-old sister, Dema and severely injured Ansam.

As painful as it is, Ansam remembers that horrifying moment. “I saw Dema right in front of my eyes. She was in pain and suddenly she stopped crying. I knew then that she died,” she recalls and goes on to describe what followed as a scene of chaos. “I did not feel that I was injured. I heard a lot of screaming and crying. My mother carried me and ran while I was looking at my father carrying my sister,” she recalls as best as she can. “A lot of things happened. All I remember is that a nurse came and told me that I was lucky, that there were doctors that came to Gaza from different countries who did my surgery and that now I would be fine.”

Suffering from physical and psychological pain, Ansam was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She complained of nightmares, showed symptoms of depression and cried most days. During this period, she avoided loud people, busy and noisy places, the colour red and even her school. She insisted that one of her other siblings go to school with her.

“I hated school,” Ansam declares. “I had to wear a cap all year to cover my injury, and the children kept asking to see my wound.” Ansam says that the other children in school didn’t understand how hard it is for a girl. “I lost my hair from the surgery. I used to have beautiful hair.” But, for Ansam, of course losing her hair was not the biggest loss she had suffered. “Everyone always talked about my injury, but they don’t know that losing my sister was my worst pain.”

One year ago, Ansam participated in various psychosocial activities held by World Vsion Jerusalem-West Banl-Gaza’s North Gaza Area Development Programme (ADP). It was a year that she says changed her life.

Not knowing what to expect, Ansam approached the activities with caution. With time, Ansam became more energetic and was encouraged to share her thoughts and feelings through songs, drawings and arts.. “I felt the change,” she says. “I have never been part of any activity or a member of any centre. I didn’t have the courage to talk to a lot of people or in public. Now, I am the one who talks the most!” she says, with a broad smile on her beautiful face.

Through psychodrama, Ansam was able to regain energy that had eluded her for a long time buried after the loss of her sister.

Ansam is now in her third preparatory stage in school and ranks among the best students of her school. She is intelligent, articulate and well-known for her enthusiasm and commitment to serve the community, especially children. She is one of the leaders of the Child and Youth Committee formed for the disaster risk reduction and the child participation projects. She is a leader for a group of 20 young children where she raises awareness on different topics through songs, plays and games for children. 

When asked about her dream, Ansam proudly announces that it is her wish to become a humanitarian worker who assists women and children in distress. She hopes one day to become a World Vision employee and find an answer to the question she raises melodiously through a song entitled, “Tell Me Why.”

On the evening of the November 14th, 2012, a second Israeli military operation began in Gaza which would continue for eight days. It resulted in the death of 163 Palestinians, 33 of which were children, and injured over 1,200 others. Six Israelis were also killed due to rocket fire.  According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the recent violence also displaced 350 families, destroyed 298 homes and damaged136 schools in Gaza.

Ansam says she felt that this time, it was even harder. “I was so scared. I thought a bomb will hit our home. The nightmares returned and I had this constant headache.” Ansam says she was holding on to her three-and-a-half year old brother, Ali, who her mother gave birth to after her sister died. ”I felt God gave us Ali as a gift to return our smiles to us, and I was so afraid to lose him,” she says.

“’Boom boom’ were Ali’s words,” says Ansam. “All day he was saying, ‘Boom boom,.’ Sometimes as a joke and sometimes when he felt afraid.” Ansam says her hope is to always protect Ali. “I wish I could protect him in a safer place instead of holding him in my arms, because I know that my arms will not protect him, and I want him to live and grow and become a great doctor.”

World Vision is continuing its work to support children in Gaza through creating Child Friendly Spaces, offering psychosocial help and distributing aid to families. The Child Friendly Spaces were established within a joint project between World Vision and the Australia Middle East NGO Cooperation agreement and implemented by World Vision with the aim to reduce the vulnerability of men, women, children and youth, while improving the psychosocial wellbeing of children, women, and men in Gaza. Ansam, her brothers and sisters, and other children have attended activities in the child friendly spaces and Ansam is once again sharing her experience with other children. 

"Ansam is a leader now,” says World Vision’s North Gaza ADP Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Hajar Masoud. “Her amazing spirit and strong commitment to serve her communities and help other children has broken all the barriers and overcome the difficulties that she experienced. Ansam’s story gives us hope that change is always possible despite the difficulty of what children live through, and if we want a better future for our communities, empowering and supporting children is the key."

And Ansam’s postivie change isn’t important only for her. "Her smile means the world to me,” says her father Saeed. “I missed this smile for a long time. Everyday when she returns home from the children center she tells me and her mother what they did that today. I am a fan of her speech, I love listening to her and I will try my best to help her to become the woman that she dreams to be."

World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza continues to work through its programs to impact the lives of over 200,000 children in its 117 communities. World Vision works throughout the occupied Palestinian territory seeking to improve the livelihoods of families and children and ensure all children are cared for, protected and participating towards a brighter future.