Faten and Rajai were consumed in their work when we entered the training workshop of Irada program to see them.

Faten lives in Beit Hanon, where her family’s house was bombed in each of the three attacks on Gaza from 2008 to 2014. During bombing, she lost six members of her family, and Faten and three others of her siblings have since suffered from hearing-impairment. However, this disability did not prevent her from challenging circumstances in pursuit of her dreams.

Faten is used to going to her training early in the morning. She is receiving training in woodcarving, the vocational field about which she says she is definitely passionate. “I feel very happy when realizing that I can provide for myself and contribute to my community,” Faten says. “I hope to establish my own workshop, and I then can have my indepdent source for income.”

Rajai, married and a father of three children, took a few minutes to tell us about his hope and happiness. “I wish my society would change its look on people with disability,” he says. “Official bodies as well as NGO’s should work to facilitate for people with disability a life of dignity and opportunities of complete societal integration, including the right to education and to work.”

“I am very happy through my participation in Irada program, and I am hopeful that my participation will open many doors to me, perhaps the establishment of my own practice,” he continued.

According to 2011 report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of people with disability has reached 113,000 in Palestine. In the Gaza Strip, the number is 38,000, 20,000 males and 18,000 females. So, people with disability constitute %2.4 of the total population of Gaza.

The same report cites physical disability as the most common form of disability among Palestinians. People with physical disability constitute %48.4 of the total number of people with disability in Palestine. They have a percentage of %49.5 in the West Bank and %47.2 in Gaza.

In the Gaza Strip, five major forms of disability are recognized: physical, visual, hearing, remembering and concentration, and learning disability.

In 2016, Irada program launched two training projects targeting 135 male and female people with physical, partial visual and hearing disability. The projects were generously funded by the United Nations Development Program and by International Human Appeal, UK. This generous support followed Irada’s four-year success not only in training 700 people with disability in a range of vocational and academic fields but also in facilitating opportunities of establishing private business for graduates, who now enjoy an independent source of income and thus a happier and more secure life.