“Safe Environment”: an emergency intervention that mitigates the burden of Nehad and her Children 

Internally Displaced People have been facing escalated crises, beyond the confines of their makeshift tents or “displacement centers”. Sanitation is a pressing issue in displacement that exacerbates the plights of IDPs; recurring overflowing sewage to streets, camps, and schools heavily affects areas such as Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

At the “Rudolf Filter” School, located in Salah Al-Din Street, east of Deir Al-Balah, hundreds of displaced families from northern Gaza, particularly from Beit Lahia, have sought shelter. This school has become their “home” amid the war. The 40-year-old Nehad Al Kilani initially fled to a house for four months before being forced to evacuate again, ending up in this school with her husband and two children.

A pressing crisis

Nehad’s family has been living in the school for ten months. Her husband was entitled to be the school’s shelter manager, helping oversee operations and mitigate the burden of the IDPs there. However, she believes that displacement is never easy, even in a school or no matter where. The recurring sewage issue was exacerbated by shelling, gunfire, and forcible evacuations imposed by the Israeli Occupational Forces. The school’s main entrance; from Salah Al-Din Street to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital regularly floods with sewage water.

“The situation was very challenging. The sewage floods to the street and the school created inconvenient health issues. My children suffered from the wastewater pooling in the streets, which causes diseases, attracts flies, and produces unbearable odors. It was a challenge not only for the school’s residents but also for anyone passing by. The areas surrounding and behind the school were also affected, leaving it a daily struggle for residents.” Nehad explains. 

Her 14-year-old daughter, Maryam, braves these conditions every morning to attend her classes at nearby shelter schools. Nehad’s younger child also navigates the hazardous road daily to access phone charging points in the adjacent area. These circumstances force her to wash their clothes and shoes more frequently, further straining the limited resources available to women in camps and shelters.

“My children faced immense difficulties moving through the sewage-filled streets. Their clothes and shoes would get filthy every day. I often had to clean them, and at one point, I even had to dispose of my son’s shoes because they were so ruined.”

The “Safe Environment” Initiative

SDF’s youth network launched the “Safe Environment” initiative to address this challenge. This initiative is part of the “Together For Palestine” national relief response program implemented by the Social Developmental Forum, in partnership with the Save Youth Future Society (SYF) and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Education Above All (EAA). The team collaborated with experts to address the sewage issue, clearing the wastewater and transforming the street into a clean and safe passageway.

The initiative also promoted the school’s facilities by upgrading its sewage system and providing the necessary supplies to maintain proper sanitation, which ensures that wastewater will be safely channeled and disposed of.

This intervention brought relief to Nehad, her family, and hundreds of other displaced families from Beit Lahia living at the school. The initiative also improved the school’s facilities, replacing foul odors and hazardous conditions with a clean and safe space.

“Thanks to this outstanding initiative, this challenge has been addressed, along with other major issues, which will mitigate our burden amid the displacement. Moving around has become convenient and free of risks and costs. It has become an environmentally friendly clean street. My daughter asked me to get her new shoes to utilize the clean street. Transforming it from a hazardous area into a neat and safe road was a much-needed helping hand.”