Rows of nondescript houses line the maze that is Dheisheh, a refugee camp of 13,500 Palestinians living in cramped dwellings. Space in this Bethlehem-area camp is a luxury as families are forced to build on top of one another, and gardens or parks are practically unheard of.

A higher cost of living — skyrocketing prices of goods and fuel — have left many struggling, including Hajar Hamdan, a 60-year-old woman living with her elderly mother, her sister and her sister’s two children. But in the past few months, a sliver of hope had arisen, courtesy of an idea that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia.

“It was an idea that I could never have thought of,” said Hamdan, whose family is one of 16 benefiting from a local program that equips them with a rooftop garden. “So far, I have saved a little by growing green beans, cucumber, peppers, spinach and zucchini.”

The idea of rooftop gardening started with Karama, a camp-based non-governmental organization that focuses on women and youth. So far, 15 homes in Dheisheh and one in the nearby Aida camp have been fitted with these gardens — simple fixtures made out of rows of open pipes filled with soil, fitted with an irrigation system and covered by a large net to provide some shade to the plants.