Healing the Spirit, Instilling Hope

Military violence everywhere takes a heavy toll on children and its impact can be long lasting. During his recent US tour, Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, the head of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, repeatedly stressed that trauma for Palestinian children is never ‘post’ but is triggered anew by Israel’s occasional missile strikes and the constant buzzing of drones flying overhead. Years following a major military attack, mental health professionals have discovered that the trauma experienced by Gaza’s children is “relentlessly ongoing and reactivated.” Child Trauma In Gaza (Video link)

Screen grab from “Child Trauma in Gaza” video

Four out of five children in the Gaza Strip suffer from depression,
sadness and fear caused by fifteen years of the Israeli blockade on the territory
Report by Save the Children

Text reads: "If I had known what life would be like in Gaza under siege, I would have swooped back into my mother’s womb. So would Rafik. Gaza children have lost school friends, neighbors, relatives. Loved ones and families. Entire families. And not all directly to bombs and bullets: destined to be Gazan meant they were not permitted to exit this land even to access much-needed medications and treatment. Or to travel. Or to live, even for a little bit."

Mohammed Rafik Mhawesh February 8, 2022

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Photo by Eman Mohammad. Used with permission.

*Healing the Spirit, Instilling Hope***

The Gaza Mental Health Foundation Inc. was formed in 2001 to support the critically important work of providing mental health services for the people in the Gaza Strip, especially the children who are the region’s future.