Message from Gaza: Mohammed Al Kurd

Can you tell us a bit about the workshops you run with the children?

I communicate with the families of children in displacement camps in different areas in Deir El Balah city, and I set dates to gather children who wish to participate in our workshops. Then I gather the children in a place that is somewhat safe for them and for us, although there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip in general. I bring with me the necessary tools for the workshops, despite the difficulty of finding them and their high prices if they are found. Then I prepare the children through psychological support, positive motivation, and discharging the negative [thoughts and feelings and anxiety] that the children acquire against their will as a result of the fear and terror that we live with all the time.

How do you choose what activities to run?

I consult and discuss with the children what they love, either drawing with colours or modelling with either clay or leaves. The type of work in the workshop is decided and we start working through my guidance and direction. We share positive stories and encouragement with them.

Why is art an important outlet for children?

Here, through these workshops, we find how important art is for children and for everyone because through art, a smile is drawn on miserable and scattered faces. It paves the way for them to self-confidence and [the feelings you get from creating something]. [We] discover their artistic talents and then strengthen them – with the materials we have, and [through positive reinforcement], with everything that’s available to us in our difficult circumstances. In every workshop I do, I seek the children’s [trust in me] and love for art. They feel happy and joyful to the point that they ask me to repeat these artistic workshops over and over again. As these workshops left great happiness and positive energy in the souls of the children and those who participated in them.

And what do the children say about the workshops to you? How are they helping them?

Among the things children tell me, those which affected me most were: “The workshop that we participated in, made me forget the pain of war and what we live in – oppression, death, hunger and genocide.” And, “[Through the workshop] I forgot the feeling of pain and the pain of the soul.” Many of the phrases that I heard from the children made my heart ache with pain and made me cry.

Here I extend my thanks and gratitude to everyone who supports and contributes to holding these workshops and drawing a smile on the faces of the children taking part. Thank you to everyone who supports humanity, and I especially mention here the Hope and Play charity.

My greetings and love,

Mohammed Al Kurd, artist

Mohammed (centre) with children from a workshop in Deir El Balah that took place in late October 2024.