Every child here carries traumas and memories that no child should have to bear. Many have lost parents, siblings, friends. Some have themselves experienced the panic under the rubble.

But just for today, faces light up with smiles and for a moment, there’s only play. Life.

Here, in a residential area in Gaza that has been transformed into a refugee camp, the heroes don’t wear capes or masks. They wear white vests with a yellow symbol on them. They are staff from our partner organization Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and they are doctors, healthcare workers, psychologists, and social workers. Since the war broke out, they have continuously, day and night, fought to provide healthcare and support to all those affected by the horrors of war. Above all, to children, pregnant women, and mothers – those who, here as in all wars, are hardest hit. In the refugee camps, it is they who ensure that the children can momentarily forget the violence, the sirens, the destroyed homes, and the gnawing hunger. They help the children put words to their experiences and feelings. They bandage wounds, they provide a meal of warm food, a blanket, and a hug.

Photo: PMRS

Through our emergency fundraiser, or through international donations, we can support PMRS and other organizations working to provide support to people living in vulnerability, violence, and war. The money goes among other things to medical supplies and hygiene products, but also to salaries for the heroes who work with childbirths, provide trauma treatment, and play games with children so that for a moment they can remember what it feels like to laugh until their cheeks tighten.

PMRS also runs a helpline for youth, women, pregnant and newly delivered mothers where they are offered support on issues related to diseases, mental health, and gender-based violence. The most common question asked is “how do I protect my children?”. The question is nearly impossible to answer when bombs are falling around the clock and houses and roads are reduced to rubble. But with your support, we can work to ensure that at least some children can catch glimpses of security and normality in a world of chaos. And that is the most precious gift anyone can give.