A life changed:Hanan’s Story
Hanan Mo’ammar is one of the Social Safety Net project beneficiaries, she is a 38 years old woman, lives under invasive poverty with her eight kids in “Al-zaitoun” – a rural marginalized community- that lacks services and basic life necessities.
“My husband used to be a construction labourer, twelve years ago, he had a chronic disease in his chest, which disabled him from working , accordingly, I became responsible for my family and struggled to secure food and basic needs for them“ Hanan started her story. Unlike other mothers, she has challenges that most can take for granted as food, water, electricity, lack of health services and war traumas.
“Since then, I have felt anxious about my kids due to our increasingly deteriorated situation, I have made every effort to carry the responsibility of my family with no one else able to work or provide economic assistance”
Work is not an easy task in the Gaza Strip where jobs are very hard to come by, even more so for women.
Hanan lives in a place that was previously used as a shop, in particular, with no doors , windows, furniture or even tiles. The sewage under the house has been flooded several times creating an unhealthy and risky environment, consequently, led to serious health threats for the kids. “Due to our poor deteriorated house, my kids were subjected to health problems and skin diseases.” She added, “We used to buy food from the local shops on debt or borrow from relatives, yet, shopkeepers refused to sell us goods due to accumulated debts, so we started to depend on the food that neighbours send, if it is not enough, my husband and I skip the meal to be able to feed our kids, because of that, my two youngest daughters were diagnosed with malnutrition and stunting due to inadequate and insufficient dietary while I could not afford the prescribed medicine and fortified milk for them”
Hanan as the rest of the project beneficiaries has expressed her needs, concerns and priorities through the participatory approach, where the compressive multidimensional assistance provided is built on the actual needs per family.
“Fortunately, our life has changed when we were included in Islamic Relief program in June , the project provides us with monthly nutritious food voucher that suits all family members, mover, we all get the medicine, health checkups and hygiene items, actually, my kids look much more healthy than before.” she added, “prior to the IR assistance, my oldest son, Shareef, 14 years old, used to go for begging, collecting rubbles on the borders or petty trading to help us generating income”
Through the project, the family was provided with school uniforms, stationery and fees for education centers. Hanan mentioned “In September, Shareef has rejoined school and I am not going to send him to such work anymore, honestly , I don’t need to do so”
Hanan concluded “Now we feel a real confidence and social acceptance among the community, the project enabled me to secure my family needs, however, gave us the chance to live with dignity”
“As mothers all over the world, I want the best for my children to live safe, find happiness, have good childhood memories, have values that will help them during life, get proper education and a good work”. We hope Hanan will continue such strong to overcome all her fears and secure better future for her family.
