In the early days of the war, I came across a photo of an orphanage in Gaza City, mainly for children with disabilities. Searching for more information online, I found a GoFundMe page from a few years ago: a British man was running a marathon in support of the Mubarat al-Rahma orphanage, which seemed to be the same place. I sent a message via GoFundMe and heard back a couple of weeks later – the man and his wife have been supporting the orphanage for years, and still are. They introduced me to Hazem al-Naizi, who manages it, looking after twenty children. Hazem and his wife also have five children of their own.
In November they were afghanistan phone data forced to leave the orphanage building. A mosque next to them was hit by an airstrike and their windows had been shattered. A ground incursion was impending – no place for children.
But where was? Hazem video-called me one Sunday morning. It was the only time we were able to talk face to face. He smiled and asked about where I was from before flipping the camera to show me the scenes of bombardment outside. By then, he and the children were living in the Jabaliya refugee camp. When it was safe, he’d return to the orphanage building to access its still-intact wifi.