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In Arabic Narratives Under Seige (11) Gaza'a Children with Special Needs denied their Education because of Chronic Fued Shortage. “What you need to understand about Atfaluna is that for our children, this is not just their school – for many of them it is their whole life. But we are not able to think about re-opening the school at the moment.” Suad Lubbad, director of Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza says. Every day parents call Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza city, and ask Suad Lubbad when the school will re-open. Suad is the Administrative Director of the school, which has 275 pupils age 4-17, and was forced to close without notice in mid April. Because of chronic fuel shortages, the buses that normally transport the pupils to school were suddenly grounded. 90% of private cars in the Gaza Strip are still off the roads, and taxi rates have doubled in the last eight weeks, so there was no alternative transport for the pupils, who are now stranded at home. Suad says many of the pupils at Atfaluna depend on the school for their social contact. “Many of them are very isolated at home, because they literally have no-one to communicate with” she says. “They feel that they belong here, because we really respect them. All the staff use sign language, and we also work to support them at home, by teaching their parents sign language, and encouraging them to use it” The majority of the pupils come from extremely poor backgrounds, so Atfaluna provide them with one hot meal a day, which Suad says has dramatically improved their ability to concentrate. The school also offers pupils hearing aids and the appropriate batteries. The hearing aids are expensive; each one costs at least 1,300 Shekels (almost $400). But Atfaluna hasn’t received new hearing aids or batteries since the Israeli Authorities prevented a consignment from entering Gaza six months ago, on the grounds of “Security”. “There is now an acute shortage of hearing aids and the appropriate batteries in Gaza” says Suad. “If a child has been using a hearing aid and the battery is finished, then his abilities will start to deteriorate. Eventually it will be as though he learnt nothing. The vast majority of children attending our school have been diagnosed as profoundly deaf, so they really depend on hearing aids. And now they are being punished by the siege.” There are approximately 25,000 deaf and hearing impaired people in the Gaza Strip, many of whom have no specialist support service. The Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children was set up in Gaza in 1992 by an American, Gerry Shawa, who has lived in Gaza city since 1971. The society started out in a rented house, with a small team of volunteers supporting 27 deaf and hearing impaired children. Sixteen years later it has 168 employees, runs a full time school, and has a specialist outreach team of social workers who are all proficient in Arabic sign language. In addition to the school, Atfaluna also runs an advanced studies program for 88 older students who struggled in mainstream education, and now want to improve their literacy skills. This program also had to be suspended because of the fuel crisis, but the program resumed one week ago, although the main school remains closed. Further Information Further information