Gaza sinks in the darkness (again)

I have to admit that electric power (electricity) is one of life's most vital elements, it made the impossible possible in many easy ways.

I get very shocked when I watch the global news and notice that life stopped (literally) in some major countries like America, Canada, China and Britain just because the power went off for 20 minutes or less due to an emergency.

Here (Gaza), the situation is so much different since already Gaza is an unusual place.

Life goes on whether the power cut or Israel is bombing or interior gun fights or whatever else is happening around, we just can't afford any pauses.

Yes we sink in complete black darkness, but what is amazing is that people are very used to this situation as if they have lived in it through their whole lives! They can easily cope with it.

Now, allow me to take you on a journey where I roam the streets of Gaza and the lives of people of all classes who live here, to illustrate for you the real image through my eyes.

So buckle up, and enjoy the ride.

So now ill hit the streets, I can see people of all walks of life walking and talking normally, as if nothing is wrong.

I can see that some shops are shining brightly using power generators, while others use only candle light, a third mean of light are light bulbs on gas and kerosene, modern re-charger lights ( which you plug in for power charging and use when the power is off), finally an uncommon way that isn’t used in other countries, which is a small colorful light that you can find either individually or attached at the bottom of cigarette lighters, all of that is of course aside to the other traditional global spread means of light.

You find all shops, supermarkets, stores, pharmacies, clinics, streets coffee shops, cafeterias, street stands, libraries, and all other places opened and operating perfectly using one of the previously mentioned lighting methods.

Now let's move to a picture that is full of diversity!

Rich people doesn’t suffer or even feel any of the regular power problems, they use electricity in full power using large power generators, and just forget about the whole around them.

While poor people live in complete continuous darkness and never complain. They have an interesting theory! They think that staying in the dark for a long period makes you stronger and gives you the ability to concentrate more.

They said it's just like a natural Yoga where serenity looms over everything.

Students also have the same theory! They even prefer studying on the candle light believing that it's much better and more effective.

They admit that it takes much longer to finish studying but it’s a great method to concentrate more and study harder although their eyes get tired fast.

What I mostly respect about the Palestinian children is that they manage to be among the world's most intelligent children despite all the bad circumstances and situations they go through.

If we talk now about the street lights, it has just the same diversity as you can find fully bright streets while there are very dark streets to the extent that you can't see the person you walking with or where you're heading.

Now if we get more personal, and get into the inside of the Palestinian houses, they will use any mean of light you can think of, even if they had to make it up from scratch.

They can perfectly cook, study, sit, chat, clean, and perform their normal life routine with no power or light.

Of course they feel very bad about it and they get to a point where they can't see even if the candle is on. So I asked the father how does it feel to be a family man placed in these situation, he answered like this "I cant afford to show my annoyance or stress, what can I tell my kids when they ask me about the reason of living in darkness always?" so I chuckled but I asked him whether he ever felt helpless, he answered " I feel helpless most of the time but I have to stay strong so my children absorbs this strength and over come the power problems and complete their lives."

Then he stopped me and said "do you think we like darkness? No one like darkness but life can't stop. Even candles are getting expensive and we can't find them any more, what could I do if I don’t find candles and can't afford expensive alternatives? Sometimes I feel like walking out of the door and never coming back but I cant, I just can't leave my family and I can't look weak."

To stop for a second and think about it, it's really horrible to live more than half of your day and sometimes more than two days in complete darkness.

For example I usually take several hours only to write, read, edit and send an article while these days it took me four days to write and edit this article and send it due to the power shortage and regular cut.

So in the end I only will ask you to do one thing, imagine if the power cuts for a whole day in your life. What will happen? And how would you feel?

And then maybe you will be able to slightly relate to our problem and the way we feel about it.

Omar Ghraieb