Hello,
My name is Bisan Abuaita. I am 25 years old, and I am from Palestine. I had a decent life. I was working for the Applied Research Institute — Jerusalem (ARIJ), a local non-governmental organization based in Bethlehem when I realized I wanted a change in my life. I have always believed in the power of serving, and had dreamed of being able to help displaced people from all around the world.
Palestine is not an easy place to live. When I was around 4 years old, my parents lost their business because of the war. My family’s hotel was bombed during the second Palestinian Uprising, and it took them around 4 years to establish it again and re-stabilize. At that time we were very young. Myself, my twin brother and my 2-year-older sister were just kids when all of this happened, and we were helpless. However, I can never forget that time of my life. I remember everything my family did, and the way they stood together was something that has shaped my whole life.
Influenced by that, I’ve always felt that I am capable of helping people. I know the feeling of being helpless, and I really want to help people who are facing the same injustices and suffering we faced and are still facing due to occupation until this day. However, I wanted to wait to get some education and working experience to be equipped enough to actually help.
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After working for a year and a half for the Applied Research Institute- Jerusalem (ARIJ), I felt like I was ready to go and do such work. In December 2022, I quit my job and left Palestine. I started volunteering for a grassroot organization based in Calais. The organization’s name is “Project Play”and it was found after realizing that there is no one providing assistance to refugee children and minors in Calais. I started working there on the 9th of January of 2023, and I was the only volunteer in a 5-person team.
Our job was to coordinate and conduct activities for children in the living sites of Dunkirk, and in some safe houses in Calais. With the aim of providing safe space for children, and giving mother’s more time to rest, we were working on providing many educational and sensory activities that can help those kids minimize the trauma, and give them some good time playing with other kids.
I worked with Project Play for two months; I would have liked to stay longer, but my visa situation as a Palestinian prevented me from doing so. I don’t think it makes sense to discuss what I accomplished while working there because, to be honest, displaced people appreciated our assistance; however, at the end of the day, all of us went home to our heated homes while they remained outside in the cold. “We can’t lie to ourselves and say we can change the situation, but the real change could start from us,” a friend in Calais once told me. He was perfectly right! I believe that each one of us counts.
I have changed, and we all did. I worked with volunteers from all over the world. Some were distributing clothes, some shoes, and some food. Everyone has made sacrifices to come here. We all had the same goal in mind, and we worked hard to achieve it. We have been through difficult times, but we have stood firm because we knew it is nothing compared to what those people are going through.
What matters is what we do next!
I was pleased to make a child happy by giving them a football. But that was only once. “What can I do to keep this kid’s smile on his face?” is something I, and all of us, should think about.
