Gaza's child laborers find their way back to school

BEIT LAHIA, Gaza Strip — At the age of six, Soha Harez would don her green school uniform, pull her brown hair back in a white hairband and join her classmates every morning in class. Sadly, this routine only lasted a month, because she had to quit school and become a housemaid.

Soha’s father worked sporadically at a cookie factory, earning in the best of times the equivalent of $10 a month. Soha's mother worked as a maid to cover the basic needs of her six children. When her mother was diagnosed with a serious illness, Soha quit school to take over her job. Two years later, a team from the Future Hope Center, a child protection initiative in northern Gaza, knocked on her door and talked her parents into letting Soha take advantage of the center's programs with the hope that she would then continue her education.

Operated by Terre des Hommes, an international nongovernmental organization, the center raises awareness among children, parents and other community members about the dangers of child labor and the importance of education. The center helps vulnerable working children and those who drop out of school through various projects, ranging from a summer school to year-round programs requiring a few hours every day.

“Being at the center is like a rebirth for me,” Soha, now 10, told Al-Monitor. “This is where I study, learn, play, read inspiring stories and live a normal life.”