Beyond the Darkness: Yasmein’s Journey of Resilience
I am Yasmine Abu Halima, a photographer and journalist from the northern Gaza Strip.
My journey of displacement began in the first week of the war. We were bombed while walking towards the unknown. This led to the death of four of my family members. Others were injured, but I miraculously survived .
Two months later, we were displaced again due to evacuation orders. I went with the rest of my family to Rafah, a shelter center.
When I first met the people of the Palestine Charity Team, they were providing psychological support services to children and spreading happiness there to those who had no hope of survival.
Then I started to feel hope inside me which made me want to offer something that might compensate for what I was suffering: to return to the values I had before the war began.
I participated in the team activity without thinking as if I needed psychological support more than the children. Then after the activity ended, I spoke with the team leader Bakr about my desire to join PCT. He and I talked about the skills and capabilities that serve the displaced. I began to invest in the work. After I got the approval, I started my work with the PCT and continue to this day.
During my volunteering, I finally found myself. It was as if the prayers of those we help makes me free from suffering, I took many pictures. My feelings in each picture were different. Sometimes I cry and sometimes I smile. Sometimes I feel that I am resisting this occupation. It is as if I am capturing stories from the faces of innocents. I capture victory when I see the laughter on the faces of children in the PCT school.
I am lucky to join the team. It has helped me develop my abilities and talents. It has made supporting the afflicted, winning for them, into a huge grand accomplishment. It made me feel that I am again Yasmine.
– Give praise to Yasmine .
