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.