Public Project
Faces of War
"This was the first time I could personally see an airplane without bombs under it's wings", explains thirteen years old Fadi Al-Arir from Gaza , when asked about his most memorable moments of the rehabilitation course he took part in at University Rehabilitation Center Soāa in Slovenia.
Fadi injured his leg while playing football in his home in December 2008. Due to inadequate medical treatment and rehabilitation, Fadi's broken leg had to be amputated due to gangrene infection. During the Israeli military operation dubbed Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009, hospitals in Gaza were overcrowded causing insufficient availability of medical care. Fadi's story is just one example of the hundreds of stories of juvenile victims of war from Gaza, who were included in rehabilitation program in Slovenia since 2009.
Some of them already outgrew their prosthesis, failed to maintain discipline of practice or abandoned their prosthesis. Though all of them symbolize an ode to mental strength while trying to overcome obstacles while being disabled. As participants of rehabilitation course say: " Even with our handicaps, we don't want to be pitied, but we want to be seen as producers for our community and respected".
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