Gaza _ record Harah
Report by Yousef Hammad
Translated by Nael Khadr
Here in Gaza where everything is possible. Here in Gaza where pain and suffering are hiding behind hope.
This summer witnesses a huge number of people whether students who are done with school, fathers and mothers, or youth who are enjoying their holidays on the inconsistent sea. Moreover, A huge number of people are enjoying leisure and comfortability on such a public place maybe because those public places are few. Sea is the largest vent of leisure because of its clean air and being a wide place people can enjoy. Perhaps they find a place where they can rest from life concerns, not only for fun or vacation, or to run from their narrow camp of shabby walls behind which they hide.
An obvious phenomenon is worth of notice is those kids who are selling " poached corn", "ice cream", or " sweet potatoes" to bread-win the family as a result of the social devastation and the aggravated economic situation of their families.
Foad is 10 years old is burnt under the sun's heat, and he is awaken all night to make (40 shekels) equivalent to (13$) approx as a daily routine. He says while he is selling poached corns :" I work during vacation to help my sick father and my brother sells pastries on the other side"
Foad hasn't even given us a smile because he is busy in thinking that he is happy as many people are buying from him while the beach is full of other vendors who are nearly the same as Foad is. Foad continues:" I am here because my father has pressure and diabetes and he cannot work. I've finished school and I am the eldest, so I have to work just like my father who was working in Israel. Isn't it said that elders are responsible ! Now I feel responsible".
This melancholic story of such children who prefer to work during their holydays, while they are supposed to play and to have fun is a result of the deteriorating economic situation of their families. Thus, they try to participate in the breadwinning even if this means they have to work day and night.
Another story depicts the same situation is also worth mentioning. Ahmed finished his primary school of a very good grade, but what's the use of holiday without a job. Therefore, he decided to help his father who works as a cleaner at Jabalia municipality in order to fulfill the needs of the family regarding food, clothes, and a decent place to live in. At least Ahmed thinks of a bright life, even they are categorized as poor. Ahmed says:" I am happy for I am selling ice-cream at the street because I come home late and I give my father 20 shekels. I am all happiness because I help him and you consider that not all children help their fathers".
Ahmed tells us his story while his bright, pure and childish looks, and his good smile make passer-by eager to buy from him.
Perhaps those vendors on streets imply the suffering of a Strip which lives on the breath of its children or the glittering roses who draw the life of pain and suffering in their pale smiles. This story coincides with declaring the Legislative Center as the capital of the Islamic world, while those aforementioned children are the color of a beach yearning for someone to color, not to say that they are spread on streets working for breadwinning.
