Therapeutic Support in Gaza
Our partner, NECC/DSPR Gaza, began providing post-traumatic psychotherapeutic support following the 2008 Gaza conflict to children (and their mothers) and young people involved in their youth training programme.
Initially considered a temporary programme, they soon realised that in Gaza, trauma is an ongoing condition, leading to the continuous provision of their psychosocial support programmes since then.
Training programmes
We have supported this work and their youth training programmes since 2011. Visiting their children’s play therapy programmes has always been a highlight of trips to Gaza. We have consistently been impressed by the programme’s impact and the participants’ feedback on its importance.
When the attack on Gaza started following the 7th October attacks, NECC/DSPR had to close their youth training centres and under-5 health clinics in Gaza City and central Gaza. All of the NECC staff have been displaced (often multiple times), and those who had been displaced to Rafah started to run emergency health care and provide psychosocial/trauma support to children, their mothers, and women who had lost family members in Rafah.
When Israel attacked Rafah in April, the centre had to close as its location was at the heart of the assault. Up to that point, they had provided medical care to 28,000 people, mainly focusing on maternal and infant health and psychosocial support to 15,000 children, their families, and bereaved mothers.
They had also equipped a medical van in anticipation of this attack. Since then, they have provided medical and psychosocial support to different communities among the 1 million people sheltering in central Gaza.
A vocational training centre in Gaza.
Vocational training at one of NECC’s workshops in Gaza
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Psychosocial Trauma Support
As the advance progressed into Rafah and the fighting in Gaza City lessened, NECC was able to start recovering equipment from the wreckage of their medical and trauma therapy centres. They rehoused this equipment in parts of their two training centres that had not been extensively damaged and began providing medical points and psychosocial support within these two locations.
As fighting subsequently resumed in Gaza City, they have had to alternate between the two locations depending on the fighting, but they hope to be able to provide support from both simultaneously in the coming weeks.
This psychosocial trauma support does not seek to fully address children’s and parents’ trauma but aims to lower anxiety and stress levels through play and group work activities. This approach ensures that when the conflict ends, the children and their parents will be in a better position to engage in more therapeutic activities.
We are committed to continuing our support for NECC’s psychosocial trauma work as they find creative ways to deliver vital interventions to those who desperately need them. We have also pledged to meet the costs incurred in recruiting more therapists so that when the conflict does end, they can start the more in-depth trauma therapy that will be so desperately needed.
It was the year of lockdown, of finding new ways to engage, to tell stories and to fundraise. As we look ahead to 2021, we’re going to first look back at the year we’ve just left behind — a year of creative fundraising and emergency appeals, of presenting webinars and publishing books, of cementing old friendships and fostering new ones. This is the Amos staff team’s review of 2020.
“I know I will still occasionally be phoning Garth. I also know that through the Garth Hewitt Foundation, he will still be creating and recording new songs, and publishing prayers and reflections. I have no doubt that retiring from Amos will not dim his passion or his creativity — if anything, I think it will focus him even more.” Chris Rose writes a tribute to Amos Trust’s Founder, Garth Hewitt.
Coronavirus first entered the main population in Gaza at the end of August and is now spreading rapidly. The official figures show that in the last two weeks the number of recorded cases in Gaza has tripled with 12,000 new cases and 62 fatalities. However this vastly under-estimates the actual numbers.
On Thursday 8th October, girls from India and South Africa met online to share their demands with each other; it was a chaotic but fantastic time connecting up girls and young women thousands of miles apart but with many common experiences. They also heard demands drafted by girls in Burundi.
“The contact with the Young Entrepreneur’s programme has been an eye-opener — I was able to realise my potential of becoming an entrepreneur and financially independent.” As part of our autumn Don’t Stop Now! Appeal, read about one young woman from Burundi who is receiving training and support from our partner New Generation. Amos’ On Her Terms Lead Karin Joseph writes.
Charities, trade unions, religious groups, and civil society organisations speak out against Israel’s plans to annex Palestinian land. Over 20 organisations have released a statement against Israel’s continued plans to formally annex up to 30% of West Bank. A joint statement.
Amos Trust
7 Bell Yard, London
WC2A 2JR
UK
Telephone:
+44 (0) 203 725 3493
Email:
[email protected]
Registered Charity No.
1164234
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