By Sarab Younes
GAZA CITY, Palestine
On the sandy beaches of the war-torn Gaza Strip a young child collects seashells of all different shapes and sizes to color in.
Sarah, 9, joined a summer camp two weeks ago where she plays in safety. She still cannot believe that she survived death, after Israel waged war on the besieged enclave she calls home last summer.
The young girl is one of thousands of children who have been sent to summer camps by their parents to try and cure them of the psychological trauma caused by the war.
Her mother, Hiba, said that Sarah still has not recovered from the trauma of the war, and sounds of shelling and destruction still haunt her dreams.
“I sent Sarah to summer camp in order to help her forget the cruelty of the war, and to forget the fear and horror she lived through,” Hiba said. “She feels better now.”
Israel launched a 51-day war on the Gaza Strip on July 7, 2014. The war killed over 2,000 Palestinians and wounded another 11,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Thousands of homes were also destroyed, displacing their owners.
The children of Gaza spent their summer vacation under Israeli shelling and gunfire which killed 578 children and injured of others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs, the war left behind around 2,000 orphans.
Anwar Hamid, 11, is also enjoying his summer, swimming and jumping in the water at a tourist resort on the beach.
Anwar and his three brothers are all at the summer camp, describing it as “fun.”
He told Anadolu Agency: "Last year, we were afraid of shelling but today we are enjoying the summer swimming and playing. We want to live."
At one of Gaza City’s many mosques, Zina Obaid, 8, sits in a circle with a group of other girls memorizing the Quran.
Zina had already memorized three sections of the Quran, and was rewarded by her parents, she says, adding that she wishes to memorize the whole Qur’an like her nine-year-old friend Shahed al-Derawy.
Shahed told Anadolu Agency: “Last year, the war forced us to leave our homes, and deprived us of going to the mosque and summer camps. Today, we want to enjoy the vacation and use it wisely.”
In order to help her violent child Anas, 11, his mother Mona sent him to a summer camp to join in the recreational and cultural activities.
“Anas suffers from psychological nervousness due to the effects of the war, but today he prefers reading stories,” she said. “He feels happy and safe.”
Darren Rajab, 13, feels like a butterfly, she said, when learning to play the flute at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, the only institution to teach music in the Gaza Strip.
Learning and playing music make her feel "alive," she told Anadolu Agency.
A report by British NGO Save the Children published last month found that three-quarters of Gazan children suffer from regular bedwetting and 89 percent of parents say their children suffer from constant feelings of fear.
The report also found that 70 percent of children fear another war and that 7 out of 10 children interviewed suffer from regular nightmares.
