ANERA restores water for farmers in Gaza Strip

Mohammed Rezeq woke up the day following the IDF operation in the eastern part of Abasan Al Kabira to inspect his house. When he found the east wall of his bungalow perforated by heavy machine-gun bullets, he immediately knew the water supply was interrupted.

"Living here became unbearable and I had to take my wife and kids to a safer place, away from the border," said Mohammed, pointing to the damaged water pipe near his bungalow.

This neighborhood of Abasan Al Kabira is 500 meters from the border with Israel. It is home to 3,000 Palestinians, who work mostly as farmers. Many of the families in that area had to leave their houses during the incursion as they were caught in the crossfire. Upon their return they found there was no water in their homes. In addition to the damage to the water network, many water tanks were also pierced which made the problem even worse. As a result, they had to leave again.

Iyad, Qudeih, 33 and a father of three, said, "Our life was miserable without water. We had it running only once a month", referring to the period of 20 days in which, according to municipal sources, water was not supplied to Al-Faraheen neighborhood, east of Abasan Al Kabira. "I had to bring water to my house on a donkey cart or a bicycle; even taking a shower became a wish", he added.

With support from USAID, ANERA has swiftly responded to this emergency by cooperating with local contractors to repair and replace the damaged water and sewage networks.

AIman Al-Qarra, 35, is a mother of two boys and two girls. On the night of the incursion, she took shelter with her husband and kids because of the intense firing in their area. "The following morning, we discovered our tank was punctured by the machine-gun bullets", she said. Although water supply at Iman's house was not cut off, it was intermittant. She could no longer water the fig, guava and lemon trees, already in full blossom.

Through the Emergency Water and Sanitation Program (EWAS), ANERA also has provided new water tanks to the houses to restore water for drinking, washing and hygienic purposes. The work has helped 3,000 people in Abasan Al Kabira restore not only water supply but also the sense of normalcy to their lives, which was shattered by the violence.

"I came back with my family once I knew there was water. Thanks to ANERA, our lives are normal again," added Mohammed Rezeq.

"We lost hope of having water running again after we knew what had happened to the network, but with ANERA's project, it's all over now and we can enjoy taking showers again," added Iyad Qudeih, with eyes full of excitement.