Children living in a Gazan Cemetary.....strewn with decaying rubbish...inadequate shelter from the cold of the winter and the sweltering temperatures of the summer....corrugated doors precariously balanced against roughly constructed walls....wrapped around the graves where the first thing that you see as you emerge from your makeshift door are broken tomstones, the destruction caused by a rocket and piles of decaying garbage and as you ener and exit the smell is overpowering....two generations of families in the most overcrowded circumstances living in these circumstances where thyphoid is endemic and children suffer recurrent fevers and have little or no insurance for treatment, as it is practically impossible for people to obtain employment due to where they live and the effects of the blockade... How can we say that this is ok?.. How can we say that these conditions are acceptable for spending your life in and rearing you family in. Despite these harrowing conditions the families and children grreted us with smiles. But beneath the smiles there are stories of incomprehensible suffering and the pain of their lives can be seen in the depths of their eyes as they tell us their stories and follow us around and invite us to share in the evening, Iftar, meal. A child after open heart surgery showed us his wounds, still fresh with sutures, as he cycled around on his bike and told us that it had not worked completely as he has to have more operations in a week or two as "my heart keeps stopping".....and then he and his friends told us about a neighbour who had commited suicide last month by setting himself on fire. The children directly witnessed this yet told it with almost a lack of expression......the world needs to hear how life in Gaza is not improving in any way and we need to ask the question about how long we can expect people to continueto live their lives in this way.....we need to stand up and speak....we need to lobby our governments and empower people all over the world to further empower the people of Gaza.....please......please share this as widely as you can. That is why I am here...that is why we are here...and the people are pleased with thier stories being carried outside of Gaza. Look at their smiles that would break your heart. We have a moral duty to stop this - Eileen Carr July 2013 --> FireFly
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:21:08 +0000