"The first heavy rain of the winter season arrived not as a blessing, but as a new catastrophe for Samar al-Salmi and her family. Early in the morning, torrents of water crashed through their worn-out tent in a displacement camp, jolting them awake as the ground beneath them turned into a muddy pool. All around them, displaced people scrambled to repair what the rain had destroyed, filling waterlogged holes with sand and lifting drenched mattresses into the weak winter sun."
"For 35-year-old Samar, the timing could not have been worse. She is due to give birth imminently, and everything she has prepared for her newborn daughter was drenched. All the baby's clothes were soaked in mud, as you can see, she says, lifting tiny garments covered in brown stains. Everything I prepared was submerged, even the diapers and the box of milk formula."
"Samar, her husband, and their three children live in a tent in Deir el-Balah, near tents where her mother and siblings live. They are all displaced from their home in Tal al-Hawa in southwest Gaza City, as a result of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. There are no words to describe how I feel right now, Samar says, her voice almost breaking. I feel like my mind is going to freeze. How am I supposed to welcome my baby girl like this?"
Heavy winter rains flooded a displacement camp in Deir el-Balah, turning tents into mud pools and ruining belongings. Samar al-Salmi, displaced from Tal al-Hawa, faces imminent childbirth with drenched baby clothes, nappies and formula. Family members scrambled to salvage possessions, shoveling sand and airing mattresses. Mattresses, clothing, and basic belongings lay soaked and unusable. The flooding compounded already precarious conditions for displaced families sheltering in worn-out tents. Emotional distress and fear are acute as Samar worries about welcoming her newborn amid ruined supplies and unstable shelter.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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