Islamic Relief UK USA Germany Belgium Netherlands Italy Switzerland Turkey Sweden Malaysia South Africa Canada Australia Arabic
IRW
Islamic Relief

Palestine Gaza Strip Appeal

Palestine Gaza Strip Appeal
Latest UpdateBackgroundIR Response
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
04 February 2009


Many of the aid-workers in Gaza are local people

2 February

There are hundreds of aid workers in Gaza. This narrow piece of land is so poor that most of the population relies on some kind of aid.

Aid workers also have their own stories about what happened in Gaza - stories that many people don't get to hear. They are Gazans too, and they also have to deal with losing loved ones and finding their homes destroyed, yet must still find the strength to help others.

My colleague Maali Turk, 33, is one such aid worker. I remember during the first days of the bombing when I met Maali at the Al-Shifa Hospital. He looked confused and worried. I asked him what the matter was. He told me he had been to the mortuary to see if he could find his brother.

Unfortunately, Maali found his brother in the evening buried under some rubble - he was dead.

Just three days later, Maali was out helping people with first aid. He was also at the hospital volunteering to help with casualties.

He told me that he imagined all the injured who were coming into the hospital as being his brother. This pushed him to exert all his efforts in helping whoever he could.

Amira's story

Maali told me about 13-year-old Amira. She had come into the hospital having lost a lot of blood.

She had lost her father and two brothers when her home was hit by a missile.

Amira was also injured - she managed to crawl into her neighbour's house and hide there. She spent two days there bleeding, in fact she was slowly bleeding to death.

Luckily for Amira, her neighbour returned to the house to check on its state and found Amira and got her to hospital. She survived despite her injuries.

Each time I go out with Maali, he tells me a new story, something he has seen or somebody he has helped. He somehow manages to put his feelings to one side and gets on with his job. And so do hundreds of other aid workers in Gaza.

There were more explosions today - we are praying that things don't escalate to the horror that we were forced to endure over the past month.



Aid-worker diary, six months on
The only centre for artificial limbs in Gaza
Photo Story
Job creation
Education
Areej’s Gaza Diary
Gaza three months on – Aid worker diary
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
Gaza Conflict 2009: The aftermath
Livelihoods wiped-out
Neo-natal deaths double following Gaza attacks
An afternoon in Al-Sha’af - A first-hand account by Roa'a El-hilou
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker Video diary, as featured on the Guardian
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker Video diary, as featured on the Guardian
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
Gaza Attacks: In pictures
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
IR aid-worker diary, as featured on the BBC
Three Million Dollar Palestine Gaza Strip Appeal
Gaza: Q&A – Islamic Relief
Please click here to donate today. Your donation can save lives.
Islamic Relief