Gaza children - protest march

Nour, 11, struggles with frequent nightmares ever since the death of her grandmother and older brother Mahmoud.

"My grandmother, may God rest her soul, died on 5 May 2018. They asked me to see her for the last time to say goodbye to her because she loved me very much. She loved us all.
The next day, I got sick. My head and my tummy were hurting badly. My parents took me to the hospital. On that day, Monday, the doctors said that I should be taken to a hospital in Israel, and my brother was wounded that same day.
I slept at the hospital for six days, and I started walking a little bit after the first medical treatment. After that I went back home.
The next day, while my mother was praying and asking God for mercy for Mahmoud, my other grandmother called her screaming.
My mum said: “What's going on?”
My grandmother said: “Come downstairs. Mahmoud has died, may God have mercy on him.”
We all started crying, we were all shaken up. None of us slept that day.
He used to take us up to the roof and play with us, me and my sisters. He used to work so that he could buy us clothes and other things we needed.
We are two sisters: My name is Nour and her name is Asma'. And I have two brothers. They were three brothers, but now they have become two.
Mahmoud was killed, God have mercy on him. I still have Muhammad and Muhannad and my parents. My brother, Muhammad, went to the Great March of Return and while he was throwing stones, he was wounded.
In my dreams, I was seeing Israelis [soldiers]. They kicked us out of our house because of my brother and because my grandmother passed away.
When my grandmother died, she took with her the blessing on this house. They wore black clothes and had their faces covered. They beat us and kicked us out and they aimed guns at our heads.
I had nightmares every day. I was scared the whole night and I would go to my mum and sleep next to her.
After I had a few sessions with Ms Kefah, I stopped having nightmares.
During the war and the bombardments, we fled to my uncle’s house in Al-Nasser neighbourhood. Our house was bombed and we lost all the windows. Our grandfather's house was also bombed.
I was scared when my brother was killed and I started having nightmares.
My mum is sick and I'm scared something will happen to her. I love her so much.
I hope that our house becomes beautiful again and that we live together again in one house and that my mother gets better and that God will help her to recover.
When I joined Ms Kefah in ‘the Better Learning Programme’, she taught us rope games, how to deal with bad thoughts, deep breathing, and doing the ship exercise. I started feeling better and the nightmares stopped.
Before I go to sleep, I do some exercises.
When I had nightmares, I would feel afraid and my heart would beat fast and I would shake. I wake up and dress to go to school
and play with my friends. When I come back home, I study and prepare for exams. My mother helps me with my school subjects. I play for a while with my cousins.
I wish Mahmoud, my brother, would come back to us again and my grandmother and we would reunite and live as one family again.
My nightmares started after the deaths of my grandmother and my brother."

Photo: Ahmed Mashharawi/NRC