Last Update08 December 2022

With a Palestinian Japanese Vision El Amal Rehabilitation Society Opens a Psychosocial Care Center in Southern Gaza Strip

With a Palestinian vision, and in partnership with Frontline Japan, a center for psychosocial care was opened in El Amal Rehabilitation Society/Rafah with funding from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign affairs. The center was established for the purpose of enhancing the ability of individuals to protect themselves and their society from psychological damages caused by natural or man-made disasters in the most vulnerable and permanently- marginalized places.

This came after the previous 6 years of its implementation as a feasible program in the governorates of Rafah and Khan Yunis where a variety of age groups including children, adolescent females, and women were targeted. Moreover, the program targeted PSOPs who work in health and education sectors, in order to enable them to carry out psychosocial care sessions for traumatized people, in addition to acquire the skills of monitoring, detecting and referring cases that suffer from PTSDs.

For his part, Mr. Ziyad Al-Abed, the Board Chairman of El Amal Rehabilitation Society, indicating the reason behind opening the center stated that: “The urgent and instant services we provide through the psychosocial care program have been a compelling response to the tough political and economic situation, as well as the traumas resulted from the constant wars, and crises the Palestinians suffer from, especially the people of Rafah, which is the most marginalized and impoverished city in Palestine.

Mr. AL-Abed also emphasized that there is a great need and increasing demand among the Gazans to join the programs of the psychosocial care center, which reflects that there is an arising awareness among them of the importance of receiving this type of services, in light of the reality that creates severe psychological traumas which negatively affect the people and community's life.

In addition, he pointed out that El Amal Rehabilitation Society (ERS) decided to transform the psychosocial care program into a permanent and vital center of ERS's centers despite that the reality imposes a great challenge due to the difficult obstacles facing the sustainability of the Palestinian institutions working in the sector. Mr. Al-Abed also indicated that the success the program has achieved in recent years encouraged the ERS's administration to take this bold step that aspires to establish a center specialized in providing psychosocial care services with a new vision.

Moreover, Al-Abed thanked the partner institutions, which, through their partnership, they try to provide psychosocial services to all of the community groups, as focal centers to receive and refer the traumatized people that are in need to specialized services.

Eventually, he pointed out that El Amal Rehabilitation Society enjoys strategic and robust relations with the Japanese NGOs that directly deal with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating that the program is fully funded by the Japanese Foreign Ministry and under the supervision and follow-up of the Frontline Japan- Tokyo, which ERS considers it a strategic and important partner in providing services to the Palestinian community. Mr. Al-Abed also reflected the real desire of ERS to boost and develop this partnership, as well as their sincere appreciation that goes to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Frontline Japan to be fully supported for the center.

 

M.D. (35), a PSOP trainee at the psychosocial care (PSC) program, said: "Psychosocial care is a new concept for me, and I have found myself in real need for it both personally and professionally." And she also emphasized that all of the PSC program's courses, whether drawing, clay, diorama and music, are integrated and are superbly adapted in psychosocial care, and she sees these courses as a great motivation which have given her the passion to continue training and to learn more about the specifics of working within the program. Ultimately, she called for the continuity of the program and the expansion of its targeted beneficiaries to include new groups as this will deepen the vision of psychosocial care in the Palestinian community, which truly lacks such programs.

"My participation in the program marked a major turning point in my children's life and my life" is what was expressed by S.G. (43), who is along her children are beneficiaries of the psychosocial care center. In a dialogue with the Center's Public Relations and Media officer, she stated that "My participation in the program marked a major turning point in my life through the activities which help my children and I to realize our feelings and promote positive ways of expressing and managing them, thereby enhancing our resilience to the difficult conditions we live in as Palestinian citizens.

 S.G. also mentioned that the participation of the entire family in the program is a new concept carried out for the first time through a project of a Palestinian CBO, and this has boosted a positive family bond by creating an interactive atmosphere and positive spirit between the family members.

In the end, she thanked the efforts of El Amal Rehabilitation Society/ Rafah and all the partner stakeholders supporting the project, conveying also a message of thanks from her three children participating in the program, who wished to constantly benefit from the program's services especially in light of the difficult situation that all children are suffering from, with an emphasis that her family have been feeling very positive, after joining the psychosocial care program.