Bridges for Hope and Peace: Supporting children in Gaza

My name is Ben Shannahan. I live in Perth, Western Australia where I work as a family therapist at The Family Rooms (www.thefamilyrooms.com.au). I am not a pirate but have a deep appreciation for pirate jokes.

What is the fundraising for?

I am running 128km (79.5 miles) non-stop over two days in the McDonnell Ranges in central Australia to raise money for Bridges for Hope and Peace (B4HP) https://www.b4hp.org/en. B4HP is an international global NGO that supports psychosocial involvement in conflict-prone settings.

What will money raised be used for?

Funds raised will be transferred by B4HP directly to families in Gaza to make a small contribution to their daily costs of living and to send a message that tells them, “We are here, we are not forgetting you and you are not alone.”

To me, the divisions between the "sides" in war are immaterial. The spiral of hate can only end when we take sides with all and any who are suffering and stand against violence. My heart is with both people in Gaza and Israel affected by this awful conflict.

The backstory:

In 2019 I began volunteering my time with B4HP alongside colleagues in UK and Europe to support community workers in Gaza working with families, schools and communities facing tremendous challenges arising from ongoing occupation, poverty, being constantly under threat, traumatic experiences, grief and violent attacks.

We met with our colleagues in Gaza regularly via Zoom to offer supervision of their work and to exchange and develop ideas inspired by Nonviolent Resistance for supporting families and children in schools. Our colleagues in Gaza were committed to supporting families and schools to develop collective nonviolent responses to the use of violence and coercion in their communities to promote peace.

Parents in Gaza reported that refraining from violence in their families strengthened family relationships, their sense of resilience and sparked new hope for the future. While there could be no safe places in Gaza, our joint work with the Palestinian practitioners assisted parents to create emotionally and physically safer places within families and schools.

The situation since October 2023:

With the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, our project went on hold. We set up a WhatsApp group with our colleagues in Gaza, which has since served as a protected space for sharing advice and encouragement.

A message from a colleague vividly describes the situation:

"We are back online, we are still alive. We don't have the words to describe how exhausted we are...Why can't the bloodshed be stopped through peaceful, political dialogue? We just want to survive.”

For us, this work means staying in touch, being present, and showing our friends that they are not alone and have not been forgotten. We help them process their emotions and share their lived reality. Through lectures, public statements, and sharing their stories, we bear witness to the human suffering we are experiencing first-hand. This act of bearing witness gives our colleagues a voice and makes the suffering of the civilian population of Gaza visible. At the same time, we also stay in touch with our friends in Israel, who are also suffering from the current conflicts. Our aim is to promote dialogue and build bridges between the affected communities.