Beyond words: Day three in Gaza by Gerri Haynes, photos by Bob Haynes
Maxine Fookson at the cochlear implant center.
Homes once stood where they are walking.
Growing hope in the midst of sorrow.
The Shujayea rehabilitation hospital was totally destroyed.
One of the mosques attacked and destroyed by Israel.
Destruction is everywhere.
(Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility has traveled to Gaza since 1993. Since 2009, following the Cast Lead invasion by Israel, WPSR has sponsored eight medical delegations to serve the besieged, imprisoned and war-torn people of Gaza.)
In my language I know of no word or words sufficient to describe the scenes we saw today as we drove through the Sujayea area of Gaza. Around us, thousands of bombed-out wreckages of homes; before us, the shattered remains of the Al Wafa rehabilitation hospital. Imagining the families whose lives were forever changed in those brief moments of summer 2104, and then watching as family members now walked between the shards of their homes will remain with me forever.
One family, whose home was spared so that Israeli soldiers could claim it and live there for a time of occupation, has returned to repair the damage done by the soldiers to the inside of their home and to begin replanting their garden. Some families who have nowhere else to go occupy the shells of homes. These homes are statistically referred to as “partially destroyed” – even when the front of the home is missing and residence is claimed in rooms with only three sides.
In the rubble, fragments of toys, furniture, cookware, linens – the common stuff of life – provide startling reminders of a community. Why was this destruction deemed necessary? Who lives with the responsibility for this decision in their heart?
People who were living their lives, already struggling under siege, experienced the death of family members and now grieve loved ones, their homes and their community.
Earlier today, we had watched a community in action. We traveled with staff of the Palestinian Medical Relief Service to a remote area home where the homeowners had agreed to shelter a mobile clinic. A long line led from one of the rooms in the home – now designated as an exam and treatment area for the services provided by PMRS staff.
Physicians, nurses, physical therapists and other health care professionals make up the PMRS mobile clinic teams that go into areas where poverty makes it difficult for people to travel to central medical care. There are four such teams in Gaza and they see patients in these home (mobile) clinics each day.
We visited a home where the PMRS dressing team was caring for a bedridden woman. This woman’s legs were broken and burned by a war blast in August – a blast that killed her eight-year-old daughter as they walked through a market. For a time, the woman had been cared for in a Jerusalem hospital. When she was returned to her home, the PMRS team assumed responsibility for her daily care – she is healing well while she also grieves.
PMRS served Gaza in an expanded group of ten mobile clinics during the 51 days of attacks – braving travel that proved lethal for some medical workers in Gaza.
Everywhere we go in Gaza, as in previous visits, we meet courageous people who are intent on making life better for Gaza. This morning, we visited the Al Amal Cochlear Implant Center. Al Amal functions in two buildings. One is a rehabilitation center for helping children utilize their implants. Here, the classes are small and speech therapists work with groups of children to help them fully utilize the implants. The second facility is a school where students with implants are successfully integrated into classrooms with non-hearing impaired students.
Al Amal claims the highest honors for their work. Many of the children they serve are hearing impaired due to war injuries. Cochlear implant equipment is expensive and the waiting list for service at the Center is long.
Throughout Gaza, many healthcare workers and
A member of a Red Crescent team, hard at work.
At dinner tonight, we met with Dr. Muhammad Al Kashif, Director General of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Health. As he reviewed the challenges to life and medical care here, we expressed our gratitude to him for welcoming us to Gaza. His generous work with staff from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme has made it possible for our teams to work in Gaza.
Tags: Gaza, Israel, Middle East, Mideast
Gerri Haynes, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | admin November 4, 2014
9 Comments to “Beyond words: Day three in Gaza by Gerri Haynes, photos by Bob Haynes”
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By Dr. Spphia Asaviour, November 4, 2014 @ 11:42 pm
It s nearly 2015 and I still cry for these people. I did not think that the Israelis would forget the ancient days of their mother who behaved with jealous rage because a son was born through an Egyptian slave at her request. Nor did I think that they would forget the mental and physical pains that travel down through their cells screaming from their ancestors who suffered under the pangs of Hitler and his SS troops. Nor the cold long rides to the concentration camps of no return. How is it that we can do worse to others that has been done to us and call it justice, payback, revenge… Where and when does it stop. I speak to the great mind in the ethers and as it seems that no human mind or heart is large enough to take the leap of courage into the arms of the unknown. We pray with and for you all workers to stay the course. Mercy is watching and recording.
By joop jansen, November 5, 2014 @ 12:40 am
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, great admiration for you people. There will be no peace and no justice unless the root causes of the conflict are addressed. The roots of the conflict lie in Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation of the West Bank, the building of illegal settlements in the occupied territories, the forced take-over of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and the effective establishment of an apartheid system that systematically removes the most basic human rights of Palestinians.”!Free Palestine, enough is enough!
By Richard Riddle, November 5, 2014 @ 4:57 am
Thank you for bearing witness to this terrible injustuce. Recently a huge majority of MPs in the UK parliament voted to recognise Palestine. Unfortunately this was not binding on the government. Until European Governments and the US government recognise the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, the Palestinians will continue to live under occupation. apartheid and occupation violence.
Civil society supports the legitimate rights of Palestine. Our governments must respond.
By Veronica Desmond, November 5, 2014 @ 7:57 am
Thank you for keeping us posted , Gaza is never far from our thoughts. Thank you for being there and helping these misfortunate people. We pray for a lasting peace and for justice for Paestine .
Veronica Desmond
By Mairead Gallagher, November 5, 2014 @ 8:20 am
Gaza is testimony to the indomitable nature of the human spirit, the destruction of people, places and much-needed facilities and possessions, to the cruelty.
By Fernando Falcão, November 5, 2014 @ 9:01 am
Thanks for publicising: the civilized people of world must know the true face of israeli zionism.
By Rick Littleton, November 5, 2014 @ 11:14 am
Gerri and Bob Haynes represent the best in humanity. Intelligent, aware, caring, & active. Gerri is Western Washington’s version of Mother Theresa.
How do we nominate her for a Nobel Peace Prize?
Thank you, Gerri & Bob Haynes. The rest of us are honored to belong to your species.
R.L.
By Patrick Golden, November 5, 2014 @ 1:52 pm
USA, NATO, Israel are the true terrorists.
By Anne Candlin, November 5, 2014 @ 2:38 pm
All Love and Blessings to you in Gaza: the children and elderly, the parents, the many injured, the many bereaved, the many homeless, the medics, those struggling to rebuild……every person without exception.