THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SUFFERING OF DEAF CHILDREN IN GAZA

Gaza City, 16 Jumadil Akhir 1436/5 April 2015 (MINA) – The idea of making cartoons was started after the war, after being inspired to help the many traumatised children within Gaza. They suffered from psychological and behavioural problems during the war, as with all children living in a state of armed violence.

Their idea behind the cartoons is to show the world what the children living in the Gaza Strip are suffering from and what they have witnessed during the war, according to Middle East Monitor (MEMO) report quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Sunday.

Deaf children specifically were in a state of isolation during the war because they were unable to go to school or come to the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children for someone to explain what was happening around them as not all families were able to use sign language to explain the reason behind the brutality. They would only see is their families leaving their homes; mothers barely had time to pack some things and take her children and leave, sometimes even forgetting some of them.

They also suffered from power outages and were unable to communicate with anyone, as they had to do so only in sign language, and although the parents were there, it was difficult to communicate in the dark, thus leaving the children isolated.

The biggest fear felt by the deaf children in Gaza is the fear of losing their arms and hands, as that it their only means of communication, so that scared them the most. They had always hoped if something were to happen to them, that they would be martyred immediately rather than lose their arms, because if they did, they would have no way of communicating with the outside world.

One form of psychological rehabilitation used by Atfaluna, for both all the children and the employees, was the use of drawings, which were later turned into cartoons for the deaf to express themselves. We are happy that these cartoons were very popular and received attention from all across the world. (T/P3/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)