Effect of power stoppage on the al-Bayumi family, Gaza City, Sept. 2006

Suhair al-Bayumi, health consultant

I live with my husband and our four children live on the eleventh floor of a-Shifa Towers , in Gaza City .

Since Israel bombed the power plant at the Nuseirat refugee camp (on 28 June), my family and I have been suffering from the power stoppages. I can't do anything without electricity. All my housework, even the simplest things, is based on a power supply. Electricity and water have become the most important thing in our lives.

Because we live on the eleventh floor, even going out of the house and coming in is very hard without electricity to operate the elevator. Going up the stairs is extremely tiring. Sometimes, I have to wait two hours for it to start again so I can go up to my apartment or leave my apartment and go outside. Walking up or down the stairs from the eleventh floor is doable, but it is crazy to have to do it twice a day. I prefer to sit at home and not go out.

I work as a health consultant in the Rafah Municipality . I go to work daily. That means I have to go down eleven stories and go back up at the end of the workday. When I have to take one of the children to the doctor, I have to go down and up again, which exhausts both me and the child. It takes about twenty minutes to go up the steps. Many times I stay at home and don't visit relatives or go shopping. I arrange my life around the electricity supply.

This situation makes me tense all the time. When there is no electricity, the building's guard sometimes operates the generator for the elevator. We limit the use of the generator because the diesel fuel needed to operate it is so expensive, about twenty shekels an hour.

The children have also become prisoners to the flow of electricity. They only leave the apartment when the generator is working or there is electricity and the elevator is working. They can't go downstairs to play or buy candy at the supermarket whenever they want. Often, they have to stay at home, which affects their frame of mind. Without electricity, they can't watch TV or play with the computer. Sometimes, they stay up late at night, hoping for the electricity to come back on so they can watch their favorite TV programs, like "Spacetone."

Because I can't store food in the refrigerator, I have to buy food in a sufficient quantity for no more than one day, and canned foods. This costs more money and is not a way of life we can sustain indefinitely.

I can do a laundry only when there is electricity. Our TV broke down because of the many power stoppages. To avoid the electrical goods from breaking down, we need a regulator for each appliance, which is very expensive.

When there isn't electricity, we also don't have water because the pump that pumps the water to the roof, from which is passes to the apartments, doesn't work. This affects our hygiene and restricts us in many ways, such as in cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and washing dishes. I used to clean the house daily, and the children used to take a shower every day, but now that is impossible, which is problematic because of the summer heat and humidity. It is also hard living without fans, which need electricity to run.

To save water, I wash the shower and the toilets with the dishwater. I clean them three times a week instead of every day. A few times already, I bought water to wash the children and the house and the dishes, and to wash the clothes.

Matters got worse when school started. I have to do everything – shop, cook, take care of the children's needs – during daylight hours. The children can't do their homework after it gets dark, which affects their achievements in school. We all feel the emotional pressure. The children constantly ask why there is no electricity and try to understand why we are living like this. I try to answer, but it ends up making me tenser.

Suhair Sa’id Muhammad al-Bayumi, 39 year old mother of 4 children, is a health consultant and a resident of Gaza City. Her testimony was given to Muhammad Sabah on 15 September 2006.