Reclaiming stolen childhoods: swimming classes resume in Gaza after three years of war

A group of children relax after their swimming class. Photograph: Amjad Tantesh/The GuardianIn sea pools built with sandbags and rubble, Amjed Tantesh gives traumatised children brief respite from their daily livesBy Seham Tantesh in Gaza and Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem; photographs by Amjed TanteshSwimming classes have started again in Gaza after three years of war, with hundreds of children learning to float, doggy paddle and take their first strokes in five makeshift sea pools built from sandbags and rubble.The lessons allow a few hundred girls and boys to reclaim their childhood for a few hours in a place where there are no playgrounds, no formal education and children live in fear of continuing Israeli attacks.

A UN survey in March found that 96% of children felt death was imminent.View image in fullscreen Activity on the Gaza seafront “Swimming gives me a chance to escape the war, and the worries I live with,” said Alma Shabat, 13, who saw her mother killed in an Israeli strike in May.After three weeks of classes, her favourite stroke is freestyle, she has made new friends and she is no longer afraid of the waves and open sea.

“Coming to the beach is a beautiful and enjoyable experience,” she said.Swimming classes begin again in Gaza – loopAmjed Tantesh, who founded Gaza’s first swimming academy more than two decades ago, has mobilised dozens of volunteers this summer to create the string of pools on the beaches of central Gaza, with tarpaulins providing some shade from the fierce Mediterranean sun.There is very little heavy machinery left in Gaza so they did everything by hand, moving tonnes of rubble and filling sandbags to build walls, then excavating sand to deepen the pools.

View image in fullscreen Children take part in a swimming class In the morning they hold free classes for children whose parents were killed in Israeli attacks. In the afternoon, the pools are open to everyone and constantly filled with delighted children splashing in the warm water.View image in fullscreenView image in fullscreenView image in fullscreen Tulin Al-Othmaneh, 10, and Aseel Al-Kafarna “Its a rare chance to enjoy, relax and reclaim part of their stolen childhood,” said Tantesh, who has also worked as a journalist for the Guardian and other outlets.

His niece, Seham Tantesh, reports for the Guardian from Gaza. “The pools attract children from all along the beach like huge magnets”.Most Palestinian children have endured years of extreme trauma.

There is the loss and maiming of loved ones, with one in ten of the prewar population killed or injured in Israeli attacks. Thousands more are thought to be buried under the rubble.View image in fullscreen A big group of the children pose for a photo on the beach View image in fullscreen Children form a chain before getting into the water Gaza has the highest concentration of child amputees in the world.

“Disability among Palestinian children has ceased to be an individual medical condition and has now become a defining demographic reality,” a UN commission said in a report on Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children.The human-made famine caused by Israel’s siege last year will leave some children with lifelong mental and physical stunting.View image in fullscreen Instructor Ali Al-Attar with a group of the children There has been no formal schooling for three years, and almost all school buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

There are nearly 700,000 school-age children in Gaza, and only a minority have access to the makeshift tent schools run by aid groups.Survivors are crammed into crowded, hot and noisy tent camps in just a third of the prewar Gaza without adequate water or sanitation.View image in fullscreen Amjed Tantesh takes a selfie while a swimming class takes place behind him Swimming classes are a desperately needed escape from this grim reality, physically and mentally.

“Being here allows me to train, play and breath fresh air, away from the tents,” said Maryam al Musri, 10, who lost her father in the war.Laila Qahman, 14, who lost her seven-year-old brother when a mosque near where he was playing was bombed and who dreams of becoming a pharmacist, said swimming gave her the chance to relax, cool down and forget about life in a tent.View image in fullscreen Laila Qahman “I come here every other day because it makes me feel like I’m living my life and enjoying my time, instead of staying in the tent listening to the sounds of shelling and living with fear and sadness,” she said.

“Before I learned how to swim, I was a little afraid of the sea and did not have the courage to go into the water. Now, I feel much more confident and no longer feel afraid when I swim.”So far 700 children have attended six weeks of classes, and Tantesh hopes to teach thousands more over the summer if he can get funding to pay teachers, who are currently all working for free, and cover other basic expenses.

The joy of these young swimmers has been healing for him as well, as he mou