Looking for Trouble

An unscheduled departure from Gaza

By Gerri Haynes

Concerns over the corona virus are causing chaos in airports. Our group decided that early departure from Gaza is the reasonable thing to do and now we have been told that the crossing out of Gaza will be closed all next week – so we are arranging for earlier flights home.

As we leave this place of incredibly courageous and loving people, I am struck by the level of great humor that we witnessed during this visit. In our visits to care centers and with long-time friends, I also was struck by the innate ability of the people in Gaza to find joy in laughter.

The wonderful director of Gaza’s cerebral palsy Center toured us through the reconstruction of the Center’s building – a structure that was badly damaged in 2018 by missiles that struck an adjoining building. Throughout the Center we witnessed severely affected children responding with joy to the presence of the director.

Over several years of visits, I have repeatedly met a young girl whose condition had confined her to a wheel chair and prevented her from developing speech. Nevertheless, each time I have visited her, she has greeted me with wonderful smiles and happily clapped her hands.

During this visit, I was amazed and delighted to see her walking (with assistance) toward me, reaching out so that we could hold each other. She had had surgical procedures that allowed movements of her legs and given her some freedom!

Through teaching and consultations our group discovered many more possible avenues of care that are open to visiting medical professionals and there is a will among us to return to Gaza.

The economy in Gaza is in desperate condition. Unemployment is 43 to 74%, depending on age and gender. The environment suffers extremely from lack of access to clean water (The World Health Organization has just reported that 97% of the water is not fit for human consumption) and there is virtually no freedom of movement between Gaza and the world beyond.

In the classes I taught, there were no young people who had traveled outside Gaza, this land that exists under immediate and constant threat of destruction. Still the spirit of Gaza, the generosity of Gaza, the brilliance of the people here could inspire the world to reinvest in humanity.