<\/p>\n
19 March 2026<\/p>\n
At five years old, the world was Mohammed\u2019s playground. One afternoon in 2016, in the Gaza Strip’s southern town of Khan Younis, Mohammed was playing with other children outside his home. He noticed what looked like a small toy horse lying in the street. Curious, he picked it up.<\/p>\n
It was an explosive remnant of war – an unexploded weapon left behind from earlier fighting. Something that looked harmless but detonated in his hands. In a single, devastating moment, Mohammed lost his sight and the use of his left hand. \u201cAfter the explosion, everything went dark,\u201d the now fourteen-year-old recalls. \u201cBut I still remember the light.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, Mohammed enrolled at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA-supported Rehabilitation Centre for Visually Impaired Children (RCVI), where he began to rebuild in a world he had never chosen. \u201cAt first, every step felt like walking on clouds,\u201d he says. \u201cBut my teachers told me to trust my steps. And I did.\u201d Through specialised education, psychosocial support, and tailored learning tools, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA helped Mohammed regain confidence and independence.<\/p>\n
But for Palestine Refugee children, one conflict is rarely the end of the story. A new brutal and devasting war broke out in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. Like hundreds of thousands of people, Mohammed\u2019s family was forced to flee multiple times, eventually seeking refuge in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip. They now live in a tent.<\/p>\n
For a child with visual impairment, displacement means losing familiarity and the mental map built over years. \u201cIn my old house, I knew every corner,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn the tent, I had to redraw the world in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
The war also disrupted his education for more than two years. The centre he and around 500 other students depended on was damaged early in the conflict and repurposed as an emergency shelter throughout the war. “I missed school,” he says. “I missed my friends\u2019 voices. School felt like a safe place.\u201d Yet, even in crisis, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA\u2019s support did not stop.<\/p>\n
Once a fragile ceasefire took hold in October 2025, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA stepped up its \u201cback to learning\u201d education programme in the Gaza Strip. On 7 February 2026, the centre, still functioning as a shelter, resumed learning. Within it, makeshift classrooms were set up using wooden pallets and tarpaulin walls. Fifty-six children with visual impairment, including Mohammed, returned to learning, psychosocial support, and a sense of routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur children are not limited by walls,\u201d says the centre\u2019s principal, Seham. \u201cClassrooms are overcrowded; lighting must be carefully adjusted for children with night blindness or albinism. Many have no books, and the assistive devices they rely on, such as braille machines, magnifiers, or adapted writing tools, are often damaged or unavailable. Despite all these difficulties, we create a space where they can learn, grow and shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA teachers, counsellors, and support staff work closely with each child, adapting lessons, adjusting lighting in the tarpaulin classrooms, and offering one-on-one guidance. Counsellor Hassan, himself with visual impairment, works with each child to help them process trauma. \u201cI sit with them to understand their fears, to untangle the confusion war has left behind. One conversation at a time, we rebuild their world,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
Inside the fragile classrooms, children laugh, reconnect, and begin to heal. Seated among his classmates, Mohammed shares his hopes. “I want to become a doctor so I can help people who are hurt like me. I want to show them that even when life takes your sight, it cannot take your dreams.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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