ABU DHABI // A Dubai charity on Sunday expanded its drive to help hundreds of thousands of children traumatised by Israel’s 50-day war on Gaza.
Dubai Cares, which works to provide children in developing countries with access to quality primary education, aims to integrate Gaza youngsters back into school and create an environment suitable for learning.
It launched a Dh11 million programme three months ago to build a new school in Gaza and introduce emergency trauma education to the curriculum. Now it is urging residents to volunteer their time this weekend to pack 50,000 school bags for Palestinian children.
“What happened after the bombing was that the children suffered,” Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive of Dubai Cares, said on Sunday. “They suffered from physical and mental trauma.”
More than 2,000 Palestinians died and nearly 6,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the seven-week summer war, and children bore the brunt of the devastation: 138 schools were bombed, 1,500 young people lost both parents and the United Nations says 373,000 children need psychosocial support.
Mohemmed Abu Rayya, 28, a psychologist in Gaza for Unicef, the UN children's agency, told The National last month that some of the signs of emotional damage were only now emerging in the 6,500 children his agency was helping, many still living in temporary shelters.
“Trauma usually takes more than two months after the crisis to come out,” he said. The symptoms in children included anger, anxiety and often scratching, bedwetting and clinging to adults in fear.
At Dubai Cares, they know the size of the task. “In a war-torn place like Palestine, we cannot expect children to go back to school and carry on with the same curriculum,” Mr Al Gurg said. “They will not learn. What we will offer is emergency trauma education. The curriculum will be customised to teach children in trauma.”
Teachers will be specially trained in the new methods, and 1,600 children who suffered particularly heartbreaking ordeals and witnessed the deaths of family members will have one-on-one counselling.
“We cannot expect them to go back to school,” Mr Al Gurg said. “This will be the first time Palestine has had trauma education.”
The new school in Gaza being funded by Dubai Cares will have 20 classrooms for 1,500 pupils in primary and secondary education, with full science labs and computer facilities. A further 177,000 children will have access to classes in arts and sport.
The plans are not expected to be full implemented until 2016, and in the meantime the children need something tangible to get them excited about the prospect of education, Mr Al Gurg said.
Receiving a new school bag filled with pencil cases and stationery was a memorable moment for all children, Mr Al Gurg said.
“This is where we need people to come and help us pack the bags.”
From 10am on Thursday, residents can collect a bag and the 16 items to put inside from assembly tables at Al Boom Tourist Village, between Dubai Creek Park and Al Garhoud Bridge.
The bags will be inspected and loaded on to lorries for shipment. The campaign will continue until 6pm every day until January 11. Refreshments and lunch will be available each day.
“This will be a purely voluntary drive,” Mr Al Gurg said. “We are now engaging the community with these bag assembling kits.”
He said that while Dubai Cares did not put pressure on the public to donate, any donations were welcome.
“We are always open to anyone who wishes to donate any amount, and of course those donating large amounts, we sit with them and customise programmes with them.
“Those wanting to build small schools, we can always do that.”
In 2009, the organisation conducted a similar community engagement campaign that provided 50,000 school kits and 50,000 hygiene kits to the children of Gaza.
osalem@thenational.ae
