How education is helping Gaza’s children heal
9 January 2026In central Gaza, inside a former café transformed into a learning space, 200 children are rediscovering the joy of learning.
For nearly two years, schools in Gaza have been destroyed, damaged or turned into shelters for displaced families. The children attending this new project have not sat in a classroom since 2023. Many of the children are living in tents, most are displaced and some have lost parents, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours. Almost all carry the weight of the pain they have life through.
Yet inside this improvised educational and support centre, something remarkable is happening. “War of course affected us all, but I saw all the children on the street, trying to find food or do work – it’s not their responsibility. They have lost their childhood, and I wanted to bring hope back,” says Nadosh*, one of the team members at Kotof El-Khair the Plan International partner behind the project.
“I believe education is a way to escape, it is a way to hope,” she says. “We made a curriculum that merges with games and simplifies the curriculum that they used to previously study because right now the students’ progress and learning has actually got some problems because of the gap of time they have been away from schools.”
Learning through play
The project, focused on Learning through Play, engages 200 children aged 8 to 11 years old. They are divided into two groups; each group arrives on alternating days of the week and is split into four smaller classes, enabling staff to provide more individual assistance as required.
The learning programme includes Arabic, English and mathematics, alongside daily emotional support, often delivered through stories, group work and play. Community facilitators focus on restoring social skills that have been eroded during the last two years of fear and displacement.
“At first some students were aggressive and some of them were not engaged at all with others. Some of them felt lonely and shy. Some of them actually lost their own parents and their own siblings, so they were sad and melancholic. And after introducing them to the right people who are working with us, working on these cases, they changed so much, some of them who used to fight all the time – now they work as leaders with teamwork spirit and it’s really so beautiful when you see this, that they completely changed. They keep being engaged all the time. They want to learn more and so excited to go to classes. So, this is the real change,” shares Nadosh.
“It’s so beautiful to see that they are so excited to learn more. They are so excited to come here.”
Nadosh, Kotof El-Khair team member.
“There’s a big difference between the first week and how they feel today – they want to learn. They did their homework, they want to show it. They are so excited. They work actually at home and at class to develop themselves. It’s so beautiful to see that they are so excited to learn more. They are so excited to come here.”
For Nadosh, this work is deeply personal. After her own home was destroyed, she began running small learning sessions in her brother’s clinic for displaced children. When she found this new project, it felt like a continuation of her mission. “They feel like it’s home. It’s a family project. It’s not like a school, a regular school, you know?”
Winter is looming
Winter in Gaza is looming, and the contrast between the learning space and the children’s home lives is stark. “At the centre, we’ve prepared the building for the cold weather – we want to it feel cozy and safe” shares Mo*, the project co-ordinator. “But in the camps, it will be very difficult. Some children don’t have winter clothes. Some are wearing layers of summer clothes just to stay warm,” Nadosh warns.
Food is scarce too, for many children, the meal they receive during classes such as falafel, fruit, vegetables, the occasional dessert might be the most reliable food they get. “It is something huge for them,” Mo says. “You see it in their smiles.”
“I really love what we are doing for the children and for the community as well.”
Mo, Project Co-ordinator.
For both Kotof El-Khair staff and the students here, the project is more than academics and meals, it is a form of healing. “For children, it’s their whole world…. it’s a light of hope for them” says Nadosh.
Mo agrees; “I really love to see how the children get involved with each other in the activities we do. They develop in every aspect of their lives, literally. So, we are doing a great thing, and I really love what we are doing for the children and for the community as well.”
Parents, too, have noticed the transformation. Some even attend sessions themselves, learning how to support their children. Despite the success, the need is overwhelming. The programme can take 200 children but as many as 500 tried to register.
Mo says turning children away is the hardest challenge, “We would love to expand to Gaza City, to the north, the Mediterranean area, the south, everywhere… the demand is there.”
Support makes this work possible
With big ambition to upscale the project and work with more children the space here also offers something to the team too who have lived through the conflict, Nadosh says that the excitement to learn and the clear positive change they see in the children ‘charges’ her positive energy and encourages her to keep going.
“We have seen many things that really would cause trauma from someone outside. Things that no one can imagine or believe that a human can go through this. Even though all of this happened to us, we still want to live.
Mo wants to share his gratitude; “We have hope. And we will create the light again to the children and to other parts of the community. Gaza’s children deserve to live, and deserve to have dignity. Some dignity and peace. Please thank everyone who makes this work possible. Without them, we couldn’t bring this hope to the children.”
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
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