Women of Gaza Women's Yoga and Circus Hub

The Gaza Women’s Yoga and Circus Hub, located in Gaza City, aims to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of girls and women in Gaza, using a holistic approach to health, fitness and wellbeing that combines social circus, yoga and meditation. Amidst a near total absence of access to recreational and sporting activities for women and girls in Gaza, the Hub is a space where women and girls can build relationships, trust and a supportive community while also gaining physical strength and new skills.

All 30 of the women connected with the Hub have been displaced under the ongoing attacks on Gaza. Many are staying in houses with up to 50 people, and some are living in cars. They have trouble finding food, and they can’t flush toilets - an impossible situation for a woman who has her period. Some of them are pregnant. Even when the current violence ends, their homes have been destroyed and they have no way of generating an income. “I’m uncomfortable and the night is terrifying and dark”, one of them said. “I act like I’m strong some of the time, but at night I collapse.” Another told us “I’ve lost control of myself, I can’t take it.”

A group from the circus community in Ireland has come together to offer what small help we can to these women by raising funds to help them survive this impossible situation. Funds will be raised at special circus shows in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Belfast to help the women, as well as online here. Tickets for the live events are available here. All funds will be transferred directly to the women as cash assistance so they can decide for themselves how best to use it.

Hear from the team involved...

Jenny Higgins, founder of the Gaza Women’s Yoga and Circus Hub, is an Irish circus coach and aid worker based in Jordan. She said “Even if they survive the bombing, just surviving day to day is becoming increasingly impossible. Cash assistance like this is the most dignified way to provide support to people in a crisis situation.”

Kate Dunne, a circus artist from Dublin who has worked directly with the women in Gaza and is organising the Dublin event, said “They don’t know each night whether they’ll be alive the next morning. One of the coaches from the Hub told us this was the best thing we could do for them.”

Brenda Long, a circus artist from Cork and organiser of the Cork event, said “It is important to show solidarity with Palestinians in the face of the extreme violence they are being subjected to, and do whatever we can to assist where we can. It’s vital that this money is raised urgently.”