Letter from young mother in Khan Younis refugee camp

Image: Nadia K

Nadia, who has written for us in the past, is a young widow with small children and a sick mother. She has been forced to move several since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began five months ago. The family are now in a desperately overcrowded camp - with the continuous noise of drones and planes overhead and sounds of explosions all night.

She writes: Do you know what it means to live in a tent?!

This means that you and all your family are surrounded by a thin layer of nylon.. You make a corner for some plates and two frying pans that you were able to carry with you when you left your house. And a corner for some of the few possessions you were able to bring. And a corner for the two forbidden things and the two brushes that you were able to obtain when the soul rose.

There is no toilet or water to wash in - you have to go out and search for a toilet and then stand in line for hours.

Do you know what it means to sleep on sand? This means that even if you put nylon and carpet on the floor, the moisture will eat away at your skin, it will not warm you.

The tent during the day is on fire and you cannot sit in it. At night, it is icy cold and you cannot sleep.

The food we are brought for two days is not enough for one. Just a few tins. Not enough for the children even. Adults go without.

In order to bake some bread you must light a fire, and in order to drink a cup of tea, you must light a fire, and in the end, you and the children will get sick from the smoke everywhere.

Do you know what it means to live in a house of 100 square meters and come to live in a tent that contains all this suffering?!
Living in a tent is humiliating and tiring. God does not make it difficult for anyone.