“A Teacher in a Tent”: Shadi’s Story from Jabalia

When Shadi speaks, he still sounds like a teacher.

At 47 years old, after more than two decades teaching English and preparing students for Gaza’s national secondary school exams, he now lives in a tent in Jabalia camp, in northern Gaza, with his 77-year-old father and some of his children. His wife and three other children, two daughters and a son studying medicine, are stranded in Egypt and have not been able to return since the war began.

“We have not seen each other face-to-face since the war started,” he says. “The separation is painful for all of us.”

Before the war, Shadi had what he calls a “good life.” He earned about 700 dollars a month as a teacher, owned a home just a few meters from where the camp now stands, and lived with dignity, privacy, and stability. That life no longer exists.

“I lost my home, my income, my privacy, and the way of living I had built for decades,” he explains. “Now I live in a tent where anyone can walk in at any time. It is extremely difficult to live without dignity or privacy.”

Loss, displacement, and a broken family

Since October 2023, Shadi has been displaced around 23 times, moving across northern Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis before ending up back in Jabalia. Each move meant leaving everything behind.

“Displacement destroys you mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially,” he says.

The war has taken much more than his home. Shadi lost his mother, two brothers, and their families. His elderly father, who survived, now depends on him for everything.

“I am the only one he has left,” Shadi says quietly.

Life in a tented camp

The Jabalia camp where Shadi now lives was built from nothing by local community leaders and volunteers. It has around 1,400 families but almost no basic infrastructure.

Today, the site is supported through site management led by Danish Refugee Council under the EU-funded Basic Needs Consortium, which works to improve living conditions through coordinated services, safety monitoring, and essential infrastructure support in displacement sites across Gaza.

There are no proper toilets. Shadi built his own from steel sheets and blankets.

“This is the toilet of a teacher who spent 23 years teaching students,” he says. “It is part of the reality we are forced to live in.”

Water is one of the camp’s most urgent problems. Drinking water arrives by truck, but never in sufficient quantities. When it comes, thousands of people rush forward, and fights often break out. Shadi says he is sometimes helped by former students who recognize him and help him fill his jerrycan.

Without enough water, families cannot wash regularly, and when drinking water runs out, they must borrow from neighbors. The only other water available is salty groundwater, which he says causes illness.

Food is also extremely limited. The camp receives one meal a day from a central kitchen, usually just rice.

“Children need more than just rice,” he says, “but there are no other options.”

During what he describes as two periods of starvation, his son became severely malnourished. “His bones were visible,” Shadi recalls. “I searched everywhere for food or medicine to help him.”

Winter in a tent

Rain has made life in the camp even harder. When it rained recently, the ground turned to thick mud. Water flooded into the tents, soaking blankets, clothes, and bedding.

“I prayed that the rain would stop,” he says. “When you live in a tent that floods, you fear the rain more than anything.”

My father’s tent is made of old blankets stretched over thin metal poles. In winter, water collects inside and the structure sinks into the ground. Shadi moved his father into his own tent because it is slightly better but it also floods.

“There is no drainage, no planning, and no foundations,” he explains. “The whole camp needs proper tents.”

Children growing up without school

For Shadi, one of the deepest wounds is what is happening to his children.

“They need their mother,” he says. “I try to fill both roles, but nothing can replace her.”

In Gaza, education has collapsed. Schools are destroyed. Learning tents have no structure, no trained teachers, and no materials.

“For two years, my children have not received a proper education,” he says. “They are deprived of one of their most basic rights.”

His son recently finished12^th grade and dreams of studying abroad, but Shadi says he cannot take a single step toward his future.

“Education here is collapsing,” he repeats. “There is no future being built for our children.”

Trauma that does not end

The psychological impact is everywhere. Shadi says he rarely sleeps. His children wake up from nightmares and talk in their sleep. Israeli tanks and military vehicles are close to where they live.

“This trauma will stay with them for life,” he says. “They will need psychological support to recover from what they have lived through.”

What he is asking for

Shadi is clear about what the camp needs most: water stations, proper shelters, toilets, schools, teachers, and learning materials.

But above all, he wants dignity.

“We are peaceful civilians,” he says. “We are teachers, parents, and children. We are not fighters. We are ordinary people who want to live with dignity.”

Standing in a camp built from scraps, after losing his home, his income, and much of his family, Shadi still speaks like a man who believes his words matter and that the world will eventually listen.

“I hope you can share our message with the entire world,” he says.

Shadi’s experience reflects a wider reality across Gaza. Through the EU-funded Basic Needs Consortium, partners support displacement sites like Jabalia through integrated responses that combine site management, shelter support, protection services, and multipurpose cash assistance. In sites such as this one, DRC-led site management helps coordinate services, improve safety and infrastructure, and connect households to additional support based on assessed needs. Stories like Shadi’s highlight both the impact of coordinated, site-based assistance and the continued needs facing families living under prolonged displacement.