Missionaries of Charity say they’ll stay in Gaza with women, childrenPosted: 01.06.09 
CNS | MOHAMMED SALEM, REUTERS JERUSALEM (CNS) | Despite the bombings and Israeli ground–force incursion into the Gaza Strip, the six Missionaries of Charity working in Gaza City say life has some normalcy and they plan to remain. But for other Gazans, life has changed dramatically since Israeli airstrikes began Dec. 27 in an effort to stop Palestinian militants from launching rockets into Israel’s southern region. Since then, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel also launched a ground invasion Jan. 3. The six sisters –– from India, Malta, the Philippines, Rwanda and Slovakia –– continue to bathe, feed and care for 10 incapacitated elderly women and 10 severely mentally and physically disabled children as well as they can, Sister Thertsen Devasia told Catholic News Service in a Jan. 5 phone interview. “We are OK. The bombings are not so near,” she said. Their home is located in the center of the city just behind Holy Family Catholic Church. “We go to Mass every day at the Latin church. Father sends his car for us and brings us back.” Some of the children have been terrified by the noise of the bombings, she added, but most do not react to their surroundings. A 1–year–old who recently began living with them screams whenever she hears the loud noises, the nun said. “By the grace of God we are safe and we will stay here. If something happens to our people we will be with them,” said Sister Thertsen. Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ international aid and development agency with offices in Jerusalem, has been in continual contact with the nuns, said Sister Thertsen. Recently when they ran out of diapers, bottled water and cooking gas, CRS was able to coordinate through the Red Cross and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to have the material delivered to them. However, a young Christian Gazan who asked not to be named sounded shaken while speaking to CNS by phone Jan. 4, the morning following the Israeli invasion. He said many Gazans had not slept all night, and as he looked out the window where some government offices had once stood he could see only rubble. In the background his mother called anxiously for him to move away from the window. “We have lived through bad conditions here but never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would be living in a war situation,” he said, wondering at the suddenness of how one goes from living a relatively daily mundane life, even in Gaza, to suddenly being in the middle of a war. He was audibly distraught over the number of children who had lost their lives since the start of the Israeli attacks in late December. He said in early January that a 15–year–old Greek Orthodox girl died from a heart attack; she was unable to take the strain from the fear of the aerial attacks. The Gazan said his family had not had any electricity for days and there was no running water. All the food in the refrigerator had spoiled, and although they had run out of bread he was too scared to go out to buy anything. The family lives in the center of Gaza City, which was targeted by Israel, and no stores were open in their neighborhood. He still was able to have some phone contact and was aware of demonstrations around the world protesting the Israeli incursion. However, he said, protests only created more animosity and hatred and widened the gap between the sides. Though he was in touch with some of his friends, he had little opportunity to express himself freely, he said. “I have to choose what to say to friends. People in Gaza are not afraid to die. There are fanatics here,” he said. “I do not support what either side is doing. I hope this can be a lesson for both sides when this is finished.” Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
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