WEST BANK / TRAUMA

UNICEF works' with the European Commission Humanitarian aid department (ECHO) to help Palestinian children and their families cope with the violence that haunts their daily lives by providing counseling and giving children opportunities to play in safety. UNICEF 

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:45
• Production Date: 30 April 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: SOCIAL GROUPS; SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT; PSYCHOLOGY; TERRITORIES OCCUPIED BY ISRAEL
• MAMS Id: U090430f

Description

STORY: WEST BANK / TRAUMA
TRT: 2.45
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 25 FEBRUARY 2009, JAYOUS VILLAGE, OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (OPT)

Shotlist

25 FEBRUARY 2009, JAYOUS VILLAGE, OPT

1. Med shot, Afif’s mother kisses him goodbye
2. Wide shot, Afif walks through village
3. Med shot, Afif walking
4. SOUNBITE Afif (Arabic)
“I only get scared when the soldiers come to my house. Soldiers scare me.”
5. Med shot, Afif at playground
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Farouk Khrisheh, Afif’s Teacher:
“I noticed that he has fear, his studies are suffering. It’s difficult to control him in class.”
7. Wide shot, children in counseling class
8. Close up, Afif sketching
9. Med shot, Afif in class
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve Caiveau, Head of Office, ECHO West Bank and Gaza:
“The project is about protecting childhood in the Palestinian territories.”
11. Med shot, Afif in class
12. Med shot, classroom
13. Med shot, classroom
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mustafa Oumar, YMCA Project Co-ordinator:
“Because of UNICEF funding we have high flexibility, we are able to carry out the emergency interventions, it very important that this funding to continue because psychologists need continuous training.”
15. Pan left, classroom
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve Caiveau, Head of Office, ECHO West Bank and Gaza:
“I wish that at some stage this partnership would end. This would be the best possible news for the Palestinian society. It would mean that there was no need for humanitarian aid any more and we had moved to another stage which is development normalization of political situation and social and economic situation but we are not there yet.”
17. Med shot, Afif in class
18. Close up, Afif smiling
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raidah Shamasheh, Afif’s mother:
“I was so happy. Even we went to visit his grandparents during the curfew, he wasn't scared. He was his normal self.”
20. Med shot, teacher directing games in class
21. Close up, Afif taking part in class exercises
22. Close up, girl
23. Med shot, Afif on his bike with his mother walks beside
24. Close up, Afif riding his bike

Storyline

Six year old Afif lives in Jayous village, close to the wall that divides the West Bank and Israel.

Soldiers regularly enter a gate near Afif’s house. And they come into his home.

SOUNBITE (Arabic) Afif:
“I only get scared from soldiers when they come to our house. Soldiers scare me.”

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Farouk Khrisheh, Afif’s Teacher:
“I noticed that he has fear, his studies are suffering. It’s difficult to control him in class.”

UNICEF works’ with the European Commission Humanitarian aid department, or ECHO, to help Palestinian children and their families cope with the violence that haunts their daily lives.

SOUNDBITE (English) Herve Caiveau, Head of Office, ECHO West Bank and Gaza:
“The project is about protecting childhood in the Palestinian territories.”

It starts by giving children opportunities to play in safety.

ECHO support has helped local partners to build robust networks of trained counsellors who work with Palestinians individually and in groups.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mustafa Oumar, YMCA Project Co-ordinator:
“Because of UNICEF funding we have high flexibility, we are able to carry out the emergency interventions, it very important that this funding to continue because psychologists need continuous training.”

The programmes, which ECHO has been supporting since 2003, give priority to poorer families, especially those living in refugee camps.

SOUNDBITE (English) Herve Caiveau, Head of Office, ECHO West Bank and Gaza:
“I wish that at some stage this partnership would end. This would be the best possible news for the Palestinian society. It would mean that there was no need for humanitarian aid any more and we had moved to another stage which is development normalization of political situation and social and economic situation but we are not there yet.”

Counseling has given Afif the means to express his fear.

His school work has improved and his whole family has benefited from the change.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raidah Shamasheh, Afif’s mother:
“I was so happy. Even we went to visit his grandparents during the curfew, he wasn't scared. He was his normal self.”

Until a political solution is achieved, normal will continue to be a relative term for Palestinian families.

But through their on-going commitment to children like Afif ECHO and UNICEF will continue to provide a window into what a carefree childhood should be, and by offering that glimpse, however briefly, they can equip children to deal with whatever the future may bring.