STORY: Gazan artist uses painting to encourage children amid Hamas-Israel conflict
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 16, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 19, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:33
LOCATION: Gaza
CATEGORY: CULTURE/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST: 
1. various of the artist
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist
3. various of the works
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist
5. various of the artist
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist

STORYLINE:

Menna Hamouda, a 20-year-old Palestinian artist in the Gaza Strip, is busy painting every day to portray the agony of Gaza and to encourage children amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist
I am currently a displaced person in one of the shelter schools in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. I have been displaced four times, and during the last displacement, we passed through what they called a safe corridor where we were subjected to bombing and gunfire.
When we arrived here, we were in shock. We don't know how we managed to get here alive; it was a stroke of luck."

"It is too hard for innocent children to go through such a tragic event as the ongoing bloody war. They are constantly under pressure because of the killings and other incidents they are witnessing," she said.
   
Every day, Hamouda would walk from one shelter to another in Deir al-Balah to paint for children. She sometimes paints on walls, and sometimes does face painting for the children. 

Hamouda said she has overcome many difficulties to continue drawing as a way to help children go through difficult times.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist
"Before the war, I had a drawing studio and an arts training center that included several artists. That's been one of my dreams since I was young, and I had worked on that dream for many years in addition to continuing my studies. I continued the challenge and tried to develop myself, but unfortunately, all of this disappeared in the blink of an eye. Everything was bombed, and I was forced to leave all my belongings, artistic tools, dreams, and paintings.
I made several attempts to draw after arriving here. Later, I came up with the idea of collecting black charcoal from firewood and chalk from the school and using them as my drawing materials.
At first, using these materials (burned firewood and chalk) for drawing seemed very challenging, but I defied the odds, and eventually, I succeeded in creating drawings with these materials.
My paintings became a reflection of myself, expressing the pain and emotions that I had kept bottled up for 120 days. I created five drawings on the walls."
   
"I want to send my message to the world that our people are looking forward to living a normal life as soon as possible. I hope all people around the world will take action and step up pressure on Israel to end its war against us in Gaza," she said.
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): MENNA HAMOUDA, Artist
"I hope that the messages of my paintings reach the world and that we want this pain and loss of our loved ones and families to end."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza.
(XHTV)