Stories from the war in Gaza: “Every day that passes is harder than the one before”
Since the war started, Ramy and his wife have been sheltering at St Porphyrius Orthodox Church with their baby daughter. His story was sent to us by our partner in Jerusalem, Pontifical Mission for Palestine:
We have experienced war before, but we were able to overcome it and certainly didn’t have to leave our homes. This time, however, was very different. We all knew it wouldn’t be the same again.
Two days after the war started on 7 October, my family and I fled to St Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church. We’ve lived in the Church since then. My family wakes up every day in a large hall with 300 other people. We don’t sleep very well and wake up to the sound of bombs.
There is nothing to do except to help out. We were assigned roles and responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, and distributing food and water. We have to make sure that we have enough food and water supplies because we don’t know how long this will go on.
We have a shower schedule for each person. There is a line every morning for people to go to the bathroom and a schedule for everyone to wash their clothes (by hand). We have only two hours of electricity per day, if we’re lucky, since the generator relies on fuel, and we don’t always have enough fuel. During those precious hours, everyone is charging their phones and laptops.
Every day that passes is even harder than the day before it. My daughter hasn’t been able to get two vaccinations and is sick a lot from drinking polluted water.
More than 70 percent of the people sheltering with us are homeless or have lost their businesses. If the war ended, no one could go back to their old lives—even if their homes were still standing—because there isn’t water or electricity, or supplies needed to live. And even if they were able to rebuild, it would never be the same as it was. People have lost their entire lives; their families, memories, belongings, which no one can replace or rebuild.
Honestly, we are not well. My dream for my family has completely changed since this has all happened. What I want for my family, and for Gaza, is peace. I envision a peaceful place where I can live and work, where my wife can work, and our children can grow up in a peaceful environment where there is no violence, no war. This is the only dream that I have now.