Stephen Kill

There are disasters happening in Gaza that most of the world knows nothing about. Because the entire sewage system has been destroyed, people are forced to dig a pit about four meters deep next to their tents to serve as a sewage collection pit. Every family has to dig one because there is no longer any functioning sewage network. My family and I dug more than six of these pits during our displacement. Every time we were forced to move to a new place, we had to start over and dig another one. With the enormous number of tents across Gaza, hundreds of these open pits now surround displaced families. They pose a constant danger, especially to children, and animals also fall into them and die. Today, a little girl fell into one of these large sewage pits. She was rescued only because a young man risked his own life to climb down and save her. This was not the first incident of its kind. Other children have drowned in these pits before, and many cats and dogs have also fallen into them and died. Gaza City has collapsed completely. There is no functioning sewage infrastructure left. Large amounts of sewage are discharged into the sea, while the rest remains trapped among the tents, creating a breeding ground for disease, insects, and rodents.