We can't give up on a million children'

The charity taking psychological first aid to Gaza

- Karen McVeigh

In Gaza, where despair is everywhere, hope is the vital currency offered to children and their families by Dr Yasser Abu-Jamei, the psychiatrist in charge of running Gaza's biggest mental health charity.

"Without hope, we cannot pass anything on to those families, to those children," says Abu-Jamei, who for the past 12 years has directed the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.

"Without hope, we wouldn't be here. We can't give up on one million children who live in Gaza, struck every day by the difficulties they are facing. We need to find the hope in their lives."

Even before the current war, four out of five children in Gaza were living with depression, fear and grief. More than a year of intense bombardment, displacement and the 17-year-long Israeli/Egypt blockade that restricts freedom of movement, has intensified trauma so that now, nearly all of the Palestinian territory's 1.2 million children are said to be in need of mental health support.

This year, supported by the charity War Child, the organisation treated 3,000 people in its three community centres in Gaza. The 90 team members have also offered one-off psychological support to at least 30,000 people living in tents, shelters, schools and bombed-out buildings. They are only scratching the surface of need, says the psychiatrist.

Gaza's 2.1 million population, 90% of whom are now displaced into overcrowded shelters, are severely affected psychologically. But without enough food or clean water, they are in survival mode, says Abu-Jamei.

Children are taking on the role of adults, standing in line for provisions or searching for empty milk and juice cartons they can burn for warmth. There is no time to mourn relatives or even parents.