You don’t ever get used to it. Each time a Kassam falls, it’s a different experience, a new fear.
An act as simple as a shower is timed to the reality of rocket attacks in Sderot. "I have been taking one-minute showers because I can't hear the Red Color siren alert when the water is on. Everything I do is timed to the event that the siren alert may sound,” said a teenage girl.
Sderot students are participating in a creative project that combines art therapy and advocacy. “A lot of people don’t understand my story. I can’t sleep at night. When I go to work or school, I have to look around for a building so I could take cover in case of a rocket attack,” says a teenage girl from Sderot who explains her desire to tell her story.
Between 70 to 94 percent of Sderot children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior to the barrage of rockets fired from Gaza exploded in Sderot, the Sderot Media Center (SMC) met with two groups of high school students who will participate in a creative project that combines art therapy with Sderot residents sharing their lives with the international community.
The Sderot Treatment Theater, a new project developed by the Sderot Media Center, will help residents cope with their lives under rocket attacks. The project intends to enlist 20-30 teenagers diagnosed with PTSD. Since 2001, an entire generation of teens has grown up under constant threat due to the more than 10,000 mortars and rockets fired by Gaza terrorists that have hit Sderot and other areas.
“You will write the play, the script, and decide what stories you want to tell,” director and Sderot resident Livnat Shaubi explained to the 40 girls participating. The material for the play will be derived from discussions and activities that take place in therapy sessions and workshops. Psychologist Debby Gross and clinical social worker Nechama Munk will facilitate, lead and document the therapy sessions. The documentation will subsequently be used as advocacy material on the lives of Sderot residents under rocket attack.
“We don’t live like normal people. You don’t ever get used to it. Each time a Kassam falls, it’s a different experience, a new fear,” 16-year-old Maayan told the Sderot Media Center, adding, “I hope that they will understand us that we can’t continue to live like this.”
SMC director Noam Bedein emphasized, "It is important for us to understand that each person in Sderot has his or her own personal story. The goal of Sderot Media Center is to include and share all those stories. This theater project is the perfect way to do that." Bedein also mentioned his “weapon” against anti-Israel media attacks. "The only weapon we have is the video camera. By spreading this crucial awareness, we are helping save lives and bring hope to the region," he concluded.