Gaza – October 11: The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) held a recreational activity at Um Al-Fahem Secondary School for Girls in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip. The event was held Tuesday to commemorate World Mental Health Day.
This activity came as part of the PWWSD Psychological Counseling and Consultation Program operating in various areas of the Gaza Strip. The event targeted 40 students at the school, and was run by counselors from the program.
PWWSD Gaza Office Coordinator, Sawsan Elayan said that the goal of this activity is to put a smile on the students’ faces, and to highlight the importance of psychological health by participating in games and psychological debriefing activities.
Elayan admired the students’ spirit and joy during the recreational day, noting that these students struggle to adapt with the unstable conditions they experience every day, under the decade-long Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip.
Elayan hoped to create a safe environment for mental health workers and service-providers, in order to strengthen their resilience facing the difficult reality of Israeli occupation, which is negatively reflected in the lives of all Gaza Strip citizens.
The principal of Um Al-Fahem Secondary School for Girls, Samaher Abu-Einein thanked everyone involved in the recreational day, emphasizing the need for ongoing cooperation between psychological health organizations and schoolchildren in the Strip.
Abu-Einein said that the focus is putting a smile on girls’ faces, and strengthening their understanding of psychological health is a step towards fostering feelings of love, safety, and inner peace for the least fortunate groups in Palestine.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to their community.
This October 10th, the world celebrates World Mental Health Day focusing on “psychological first aid”, according to a post on the WHO website.