The story of the library built by a group of girls in the Gaza Strip
Rights — di Andrea Indiano
In the city of Deir al-Balah, a group of young friends decided to create a library to bring joy and culture to the Gaza Strip.
The story of the library built by a group of girls in the Gaza Strip
In the city of Deir al-Balah, a group of young friends decided to create a library to bring joy and culture to the Gaza Strip.
The situation between Palestine and Israel, despite the relative progress made in recent decades, seems destined to have no end. "Endless conflict" — as the British weekly the Economist recently described it — and there is no denying that the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Gaza Strip have been an almost constant presence on the front pages of newspapers and news websites over recent decades.
While airstrikes and guerrilla warfare grab the headlines, other problems in the area deserve equal attention: unemployment, for example, stands at 60 per cent, and drug use, particularly opioids, has increased significantly among Gaza's inhabitants. Having hope seems impossible in a place like this, yet recently a group of girls found a way to build something meaningful for themselves and for their fellow citizens.
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Sokaina's library
In the city of Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian female students supported by Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, have built a library from scratch that also offers school classes. In that part of Palestine, books are as precious as they are rare: for the 25,000 refugees who live there, as well as for the approximately 430,000 adolescents in the area, having access to sources of knowledge is an important need in order to detach themselves from the difficult situation they face every day.
"With the first $300 we received from Unicef we bought books, but we realised we had no money for bookshelves and desks," said Marah, one of the 40 girls who worked on the project. The idea was born from a group of young friends hungry for culture and, in less than a year, became the Sokaina library — a name that in Arabic can mean peace. Thanks to the courage of these girls, life in Deir al-Balah has changed.
Students at Sokaina school in #Gaza challenged social attitudes about what girls can do when they wanted to prove they could create a beautiful library in their school - via @UNICEF #TuesdayThoughts #education #reading ow.ly/aKNu30hFi8z
The importance of reading in the Gaza Strip
In the Gaza Strip, schools are scarce and cannot accommodate all the children in the area. These institutions also often serve as gathering and meeting points for the community, which is why the Sokaina project funded by Unicef carries great importance. It is also rare for Palestinian women to open an activity or build something with their own hands (as the girls did with the desks and bookshelves), which is why the decision taken by the students of the Gaza Strip is a courageous one.
One of the Unicef staff members who worked on the project shared his personal experience to highlight the benefits of the new library: "Reading in Gaza is even more important than elsewhere, because we are cut off from the world. Where else can young people get their ideas from? The threat of violence here is never far away. But a book can open minds," concluded Mohammed Abu Sulaiman. Improving living conditions in a war zone also comes through simple projects like that of the Sokaina girls, capable of changing the destiny of those who created it and of those who use it.