Jul 25, 2012

Refugee camp

Yesterday we visited the De Heishee refugee camp in Bethlehem, an entire day has passed and I'm still trying to process the experience.
This refugee camp is managed by the UN on Jordanian land. The refugees left their homes and their land and their belongings for what was supposed to be two weeks only, 60 yeas later they are still waiting and hoping to return. For some of them the offense is even greater since they can see their land from the camp; some if which has never been developed.
The piece of land given to a family of 6 has become the base of a stack of stories, each for every new generation of the original family, one generation on top of the other one, leaving some houses without any sunlight. Despite their situation this community have to endure, there is an amazing effort to to not let their spirits be broken. They manage to keep it clean, (they didn't have sewage until a few years ago), keep it some how habitable. I saw a lot of playful kids, they would come out and say hi, yes, they speak English and they like to talk, and that little chat just makes me think that if a community manages to keep their kids in that state of innocence, in a way they are winning this battle.
(disclaimer: I'm posting from my phone, please excuse my spelling and autocorrect)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

TIERRA PROMETIDA
PROMESA OLVIDADA!!!!
Very interesting Alynn!!!
It's nice to see some pictures with the comment of your trip!!!Keep on!!!
Antonin Gallant!!!

steve d said...

keep posting more pictures and writing!