Winter in Gaza brings new threats to families who have already lost almost everything during recent conflict. Around 100,000 people are still displaced as their homes were destroyed, and tens of thousands of families are living in badly damaged homes, often without walls, windows or roofs. As temperatures drop, makeshift shelters have no heating or running water and most areas face power cuts of 12 hours a day.

Heavy rains have already brought severe flooding to homes, schools and neighborhoods in Gaza. Oxfam, with funding from European Community Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), is running a '€œcash for work'€ project '€” paying people who can work to clear storm-water drains. This both helps to provide families with much-needed income and reduces the risk of further flooding.

Kamel Qasem, a 43-year-old father of five children, has been working on the project.

After the Israeli blockade of Gaza was imposed in 2007, Kamel lost his job in a factory. He has struggled to provide for his family, and to pay medical expenses for his 12-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with brain cancer. His wife, Iman, also became sick and the family had to borrow money, pushing them deep into poverty.

During the recent conflict, their house was completely destroyed. They now live in a caravan, with rainwater leaking through the ceiling every time it rains.

Rebuilding all the homes that have been destroyed in Gaza will require hundreds of thousands of truckloads of construction materials. Yet with the blockade still firmly in place, it could take decades for this to happen. Last month only 287 truckloads of essential construction materials entered Gaza.

Kamel says the money he has earned for clearing the storm drains has helped him pay off his debts, pay medical bills for his daughter and put food on the table.

'€œI open my eyes every morning knowing that I will go out to work, instead of spending my time trying to look for organizations to help me feed my children,'€ he says. '€œI just wish I had long-term opportunities for work. I don'€™t want to have to depend on humanitarian aid again.'€ '€œIt makes the children happy to know that their father goes to work so we will have money to buy the things they need,'€ says Iman. '€œUnfortunately this is all only temporary. We don'€™t know what we will do once the project ends.'€

Arwa Mhanna
Gaza

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