Regarding team Palestine.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King.
As the conflict in Gaza continues, Street Child United sends a message of hope to our dear friends, Palestine Sport for Life. The programme, established in 2010 by Tamara Awartani, represented Team Palestine at the Street Child World Cup 2022 in Qatar. 10 girls and their team leaders, Maysoon, Yumon and Momon, full of pride to represent their country at what we referred to at the time as the World Cup of Hope, the World Cup of Peace, and the World Cup of Joy.
Right now, for these girls, there is no peace, no joy and only a tiny glimmer of hope that their circumstances cannot get darker than they are today.
Since the conflict has escalated, the SCU team has been in frequent contact with Tamara to get updates on the girls and what is happening on the ground. Whilst we have all seen the horrors reported on the news, the reality is worse. Countless lives have been lost, over 20,000 children severely injured, and families destroyed in terrible bloodshed.
We have asked what we can do, if anything, to help.
The call for humanitarian aid: medicine, clothes, food, shelter/tents is paramount, as Tamara tells us, “All the streets are rubble.” In addition, mental health support. The levels of trauma that the children are facing are unparalleled; help to even begin navigating how to process this will be vital to rebuilding the futures of survivors.
But, above all, they ask us to speak out and stand up for humanity.
“Raise the call for peace to stop the killing of innocent victims – to stop the killing of innocent children – that is most needed. Palestinian children love life. They have dreams they want to achieve. It’s their right to be safe, grow up and live to see tomorrow.”
Street Child United is working to provide PS4L with short-term and long-term support. We have shared our mental health curriculum with PS4L staff to assist the girls process the present trauma; we will continue to work with the team to ensure they feel equipped to support the girls accordingly.
We continue to pursue the education opportunities for the team we launched as part of the Street World Cup legacy in partnership with Qatar Foundation, including English lessons and future scholarship plans.
We are pushing forward our work with WISH under ‘Project Chhori’ to deliver a menstrual health curriculum alongside a machine to produce sanitary towels for the entire project in Palestine.
If you would like to learn more about how you can support or get involved in these initiatives, don’t hesitate to contact the Street Child United team.
In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers remain with all the innocent victims of this conflict. Our hearts continue to go out to all those innocent communities on both sides suffering, and we pray for the light of peace to come quickly.
