The only guest that does not abandon its location at the coast of the city of Zahra in southern Gaza is a small coffee stall which does not close in summer or in winter to meet the demand of those wishing to drink a cup of coffee by the sea.
The story of the young man Mohammed Musa Abu Awad 29 years old is not like any other story. The young man seeks to make his living and earn a few shekels to provide for his family that has four tumor patients.
The economic condition of Abu Awad is very difficult as he is married and has a four-year old child. His family is struggling to survive both the difficult life and the disease under the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. At the same time he believes that Gaza is the most beautiful place in the world after experiencing the bitterness of being outside it.
The most beautiful place
Every day around 5 AM Muhammad walks for three-kilometers to the wooden stall he set up on the beach in March 2014.
“In summer I sell coffee tea cappuccino corn and cakes but in winter I wait until 10 AM to get the first customer and in most of the time I make a few shekels only” he told the PIC reporter.
Abu Awad describes the siege of Gaza as a form of suffocation for two million people but at the same time he thinks that his living conditions despite the lack of money are better than others.
He added “I stay next to the coffee stall in winter until the night comes and sometimes I sleep here. I’m fine thanks God. I’m still healthy I’m not renting a house and my situation is better than others.”
Friend of the sea
Mohammed prefers to stay by the sea every day as he finds in it an escape from the crises of life and sometimes he sleeps in the wooden stall he says
He noted “My relationship with the sea is addictive. To be honest there’s no other place to go to and during much of winter I do not sell coffee. I start fire to warm my body and sometimes I sleep here.”
Abu Awad did not want to talk about tumor patients in his family but after several attempts he told the PIC reporter that his father his mother his brother and his sister are suffering from tumors.
“Thanks God for everything my father removed tumor from his lungs in 1983 my mother is still being treated from a malignant tumor struggling for her own life and my sister was infected with tumor in her gland and my brother discovered that he too recently had tumor” Abu Awad said.
In 2012 Abu Awad tried to work in Libya and sat off a dangerous route. He arrived in Egypt through the smuggling tunnels. He made it to the Libyan city of Benghazi yet armed clashes started there forcing him to return back to Gaza.
He adds “I have lived a very risky experience and I missed Gaza a lot. I will never think of leaving it again despite the poor financial conditions I feel that I am in my country living with pride and strength. Here at least I could sit with the people I know.”
The young Abu Awad is an example of thousands of Palestinian youths in Gaza who are struggling with crises siege and occupation obstacles. These young youths are doing simple jobs to live in dignity and to remain steadfastness in their homeland.
