Rafah, Gaza Strip – The rooms and corridors of Al Amal Rehabilitation Society in Rafah, a two-story building set in a sunny garden full of trees and flanked by a children's play area, are more vibrant than ever.
But it's not just the deaf students that are always busy, the classrooms are also occupied by families fleeing Israel's relentless attacks on the people of Gaza.
Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, is currently home to displaced people due to Israel's endless and indiscriminate bombing of an area of about 63 square kilometers (24 square miles) from other parts of the Strip. Approximately 1.5 million people live there.
The first arrivals poured into fixed structures, including the homes of friends and family, abandoned buildings and schools that were left unused as life was paralyzed by Israel's war in Gaza.
Parts of the school were run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which did not fully operate the school as a shelter, as it had done several times during previous Israeli attacks on Gaza. I am no longer able to do so.
It is estimated that Rafah has approximately 15 buildings that can be used as evacuation centers, each of which can accommodate approximately 3,000 people. This brings the total number of evacuees that the city can accommodate to 45,000. Currently, up to 25,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in each school building.
The unprecedented influx of people prompted the management of the independent Al-Amal Association to open its doors to internally displaced persons. They recognized the dire need for families to come to Rafah on foot, carrying, pushing and pulling people who were unable to walk, while carrying their few belongings. they could be saved.
Families like journalist Abdul Rahman Mahani, 24, all live in the same room. He was evacuated with his parents, his brother and two sisters, but this was not their first time evacuating.
They fled brutal bombing in the Lemal district in western Gaza City, passing through the hopeless al-Shifa hospital before finally reaching Rafah.
“In the darkness of the night, I could hear the frantic voices of my neighbors shouting, 'Evacuate!' Evacuate!” Mahani told Al Jazeera about the night he and his family evacuated. . “We were all quickly evacuated to Al-Shifa Hospital during the Israeli military attack.”
They quickly had to move from al-Shifa, this time to Nasr, where Mahani carried a 25-kilogram (about 50-pound) bag of flour, Gaza's most valuable commodity, on his back. I remember traveling.
Finding no safe place anywhere, the family headed south to Khan Yunis after several days of traveling back and forth between Nasr, al-Shifa and the surrounding areas.
“This was the first time I saw Israeli occupation tanks from a distance. We were walking in a line…young Palestinians were being arrested right in front of us…it was scary.”
A month later, another move, and another, and finally they reach the Al Amal Association, but there is no guarantee that this will be the last time they have to pick up their lives and leave.
Al Amal “Hope”
All of the deaf children and young people who attend Al Amal Association schools are from Rafah, so some could have stayed at home if they had an integrated home.
Some children had to move with their families into this building after their homes were destroyed by Israeli attacks. But they have started working in earnest, acting as guides for migrant families, showing them where to find markets, shops, pharmacies and medical facilities.
Al-Amal's team is made up of five people, including project manager Bahaa Abu Batnin, and is pleased with this additional support. “Deaf students are very cheerful and love to give.
“They found ways to communicate with the displaced people and made them feel at home despite Israeli bombing and hardships and hardships,” Abu Batnin told Al Jazeera.
They also recruited some of the displaced people to volunteer to clean and cook for others and run recreational activities for children.
Al Amal is currently home to more than 600 people, with some rooms crammed with more than 20 people, and the team works hard every day to help as many people as possible.
Funding has been an issue as we have to rely on financial and in-kind donations to support everyone, especially at a time when we were scrambling for enough mattresses and blankets for all the internally displaced people. They have resorted to solutions such as bringing in goods. Cold winter weather in Gaza.
struggling with the basics
Once we secured these, we had to look at other priorities, which were also a struggle.
As for food, the team can only provide one small meal per day to each displaced person.
In addition, the drinking water crisis across Gaza means that each person has access to only the equivalent of five glasses of water per week.
Another priority the team is working hard to provide is “dignity bags” containing sanitary napkins, painkillers, and other supplies to provide to all displaced women and girls.
In a sense, helping the displaced has become a personal mission for Abu Batnin and his team, and they are unwilling to give up on any aspect.
“We primarily care for displaced children and women, so our priorities were determined accordingly,” Abu Batnin said.
Hara, a mother of three, is grateful that the Dignity Bag is on her priority list.
“They are very necessary, but you can't find any of these things on the market right now,” she told Al Jazeera.
Hala, her husband, and their two sons and daughter were evacuated from Tal al-Hawa, west of Gaza City, on October 13. Initially, they took shelter in a villa in Az Zahra for about five days, but Israeli bombs reached there. Too.
They managed to get a room in Al Amal despite the discomfort of being crammed into a small room and having to share one bathroom with five other families. It's better than nothing.
But she says: The constant sound of Israeli bombing only heightens the sense of danger. ”