Gaza - then and now

Elena Qliebo, an Oxfam worker living in Gaza, talks about Gaza twenty years ago and Gaza today.

It was summer 1987 and I had just returned from a refreshing morning swim in a turquoise, clean sea lapping on a deserted powdery beach. I picked some white sea-lillies before joining a family of close friends for a delicious breakfast of fresh green figs.

The family began to prepare lunch, which we later ate in the orchard. Gaza was full of fruit trees back then. One of the most poignant memories I have is the almost suffocating fragrance of orchards of orange blossoms when I first passed through Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, on my way to Gaza city.

As I look at what remains of Gaza now an apocalypse would describe the situation accurately. Much of Beit Hanoun's trees, orchards and greenery had already been levelled or uprooted during previous Israeli incursions. But now the foliage and orchards are only a memory.

People are mostly exhausted and bereft of hope. But the head of one agricultural association that I visited voiced cautious optimism that he might be able to export two million flower buds that were stored in refrigerators and had miraculously survived destruction.

I travelled to Beit Lahia, also in northern Gaza, recently to visit some of Oxfam's beneficiaries. The strawberry fields, chicken farms and cow pastures were gone. The stench of dead and decaying animals was choking.

Amongst the mountains of rubble that remained of homes, flattened either by F-16s or Merkava tanks, people were gingerly picking their way through, trying to salvage a few family items and attempting to clean away the debris.

Other residents were too numb to do anything, and just sat around in groups drinking tea. Even the dogs looked stunned, and instead of barking at us as they usually do when we pass, they just stared at us.

The worst hit areas appeared in one area of Jabalia refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza city. It used to be a nice neighbourhood with double-storey homes and neatly paved roads. Two houses remain. Some people sat in tents while others sat on what remained of their homes.

Approximately 50,000 Gazans were displaced during the fighting. The UN relief agency UNRWA told me several days ago that about 14,000 people had tried to return home only to find there was nothing to return to.

These people are staying in temporary shelters as UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP) tries to bring a semblance of normality back to their shattered lives by providing temporary shelter, food and water. Schools that were damaged are being repainted and rebuilt in a bid to provide a less traumatic environment for children.

The destruction is overwhelming to the point where it is sometimes hard to know where to begin after basic necessities have been provided.

Aid is slowly coming in but a lot more is needed. I feel very grim about the future. There are so many people, breadwinners in particular, who are amputees and seriously maimed. They will forever be aid-dependent and unable to live normal lives or support their families.