‘Let me show you’: Survivors cling to life in Gaza’s tent cities

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Hello, how are you? Today I’m going to introduce myself. My name is Magdy Abu Asr, I’m 15 years old. As you can see, today I’m going to show you the entrance to our tent. We live by the sea. As you can see, today I’m going to show you the entrance to our tent and how we live. We’re right next to the street. Come, let me show you. This is the entrance to our tent. This is our tent’s screen instead of the wall of our house. You can see how it’s torn apart by the wind and the air. Let me also show you the water container. Of course, we don’t carry water here, unlike at home. We used to open the water tank and water would come out. Now you have to carry water from a far place to find water to wash, perform ablution for prayer, or anything else. 

As you can see, today I’m going to show you our tent where I live with my family and my sisters. Let me show you. This is our tent where we live with my sisters. As you can see, our tent is just a shawl, and in the cold, our tent is freezing. And here are my sisters, as you can see. They were playing in it. Our tent was so cold and leaking a lot of water, it was freezing, and the wind was blowing all over the tent, up and down, making a racket. My sisters were scared of the sound and kept asking what it was, and I just told them it was wind and tried to comfort them. Our bedding was all soaked from all the rain. Thank God the sun came out today so we could dry our bedding. Come and see how we dried our bedding in the sun. These are our prayer rugs, as you can see, and these carpets are all soaked and wet. They also showed us our mattresses that we sleep on, they were all soaked too. But today the sun came out so we could dry them and cover ourselves with them. As you can see, this mattress was all soaked, and this prayer rug was all soaked. Thank God the sun came out and it dried. 

Let me show you the carpets too, so we could dry them out and make sure the wind didn’t eat them. There are no carpets like we were at home, sitting like we were in a ditch. There are no means of support for life, nothing at all. Today I’m going to show you my mother, who used to be a flower in the heart of the egg, going back and forth, walking. Today I’m so, so sorry for my mother. She’s spoiled. I can’t provide for all my needs, even the things I want, because my mother is sitting there, and I pray to God that she’ll get some relief so she can walk and provide for my sisters and those in need. 

Let me show you our bathroom, which is completely flooded. We’re sitting in the bathroom, and these are the mats we hung out to dry in the sun. We’ll show you, and these are our carpets, as you can see, we hung them out to dry in the sun. We used to spread them out for less. And these are the mattresses, all wet. We threw our mattresses in the sun to dry so we could cover ourselves. And this is our bathroom, our bathroom, where the whole scene is a mess. We’re sitting in the bathroom, and the water keeps pouring down from the low-lying areas. I hope all Arab countries and the whole world will help us with many things. There’s no one to help us. I hope everyone Something that’s easy to come by, like a house, like a house. I mean, I used to study and I’d have a table, my pen, and everything I needed. But this time, I can’t find a table, a pen, or anything at all. I’m sitting here today because there are no schools, no education, and I still have a future ahead of me. I haven’t finished my studies, and I’m very desperate. 

Today, I’ll show you our makeshift table. Look at our kitchen; it’s just baskets, and we put things in them, not like the kitchens of old. You put your plates on one side and your cups together all day, no matter what. This mattress is all wet, and today the sun came out so we could dry off and sleep on it. Now, back to the tent, and I’ll show you how it’s full of holes. The water pours down on us during the winter storms, and we freeze to death. The whole tent is full of holes, and the water pours down on us, as you can see. Our clothes and mattresses are all wet. We can’t sleep or cover ourselves. Our tent is really full of holes during the storms. How can I even describe it?I know how to express it to you, words can’t describe it. It’s a truly tragic situation, if you can see. The tent, because of the low pressure, the wind, and the storm, keeps blowing upwards, as if a bird might be flying away. 

These are my siblings, and there’s no school or kindergarten for them to attend. They’re stuck inside the tent 24/7, waiting for electricity. We don’t have a light, not even a battery. We sleep in darkness and wake up in darkness, as you can see. We also had another tent before, and it was even worse. After suffering, after so much suffering, they finally gave us a big tent. Look at our tent, how torn it is! The wind would come in, and there were so many rats playing with us at night. We couldn’t sleep because of it. It’s a blanket, as you can see, and it’s all wet. We hung it out to dry today because the sun came out, so we could spread out a blanket and sleep on it. I hope and pray that all the Arab countries will help us. Something so big, and we’d be happy, at least if it were a decent bathroom, so we could relax in it. 

As you can see, our lives are a real tragedy. Let me show you how we are, and the street is one, and we’re by the sea. As you can see, my mother was injured. This is my mother. She was injured on December 31st. My father, my sister, and my brother were all injured, and his brother and sister were martyred. We used to play and have fun together. Today, they’ve deprived us of our childhood and everything. And today, this is my mother, you see, her leg was amputated, and she’s sitting on a stretcher. I hope and appeal to all Arab countries and the whole world to help my mother get the same treatment she used to receive. I’m so excited that my mother will get the same treatment she used to receive, and that our physical well-being will be restored.