God’s Gift by S., Gaza
Once upon a time, I was in Amman, Jordan waiting to receive the permit from the Israeli side to pass into Gaza after completing my Master studies abroad. I spent six days visiting the beautiful city places until I met the incredible girl called Abeer. Abeer is a Palestinian girl from Nablus who resides in Amman and does not have the opportunity to join public school, so she is in a private one which requires lots of money. Abeer was off school for one year before our meeting; she is good-looking, her hair is well styled, and her dress is clean. What I find most contradictory about her is that she sells stories that she can’t read. I found myself buying a story and giving it to her as a gift. We, as humans, act pleasantly when we see a person in need; we don’t even ask if they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Black, White, Man, Woman, young, old…etc. That is the common sense that all religions call for it; is to help who want your help regardless of religion or race.
I passed into Gaza successfully, and since then I walk every Friday in the early morning on the beautiful street in which I live, knowing that it is near the sea, and I consider it one of the better streets in Gaza city. One Friday, while I was walking down the same street, I suddenly heard a strange sound coming from one of waste pins in the street. It is worth mentioning that I am falling in love with all waste pins, as I am a solid waste expert. Similar to how when a dentist meets you anywhere, they firstly look at your teeth, the same with me, when I am walking down the street I look at waste pins. The strange sound came from a waste picker called Yousef, who was looking for anything valuable inside the waste bin. Yousef is a 7 years old child and he informed me that he used to look for plastic waste to sell to the plastic recycling factory. Yousef is off school and getting only 5 NIS (around 1.5$) per day. I gave Yousef 10 NIS and requested that he not to work for two days, but I really felt guilty that I couldn’t give him a permanent solution.
Children anywhere in the world are gifts from God, they must live happy life, be educated in good schools, and grow up in a safe environment.
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