Sderot, a city in southern Israel just off of the Gaza strip, is an amazing city with an amazing story. The people there are so nice and welcoming, but have to live their lives in fear. Hundreds and hundreds of rockets were fired at Sderot and many people have been killed and injured. Many of the people tell their stories and how this changed their lives. They never know when a rocket is going to land near them.
The Bluestar Fellows took us to this extraordinary city and we even got a chance to talk to some of the citizens to hear what their lives are like. These people have an amazing story to tell. Many of the people told stories of rockets landing just a couple feet away from them. This experience has traumatized many of the citizens and some even have to take medication to help with this trauma.
Esther, one of the citizens, told us a story of how the force of a rocket that landed a couple of feet away from her made her go flying. She also told us about a girl that got ripped to pieces by a rocket that landed right on top of her.. We asked her why she didn’t want to move somewhere else and she said that she has too much family that doesn’t want to move because they have a job there and can’t afford to live anywhere else.
As you walk around the city you can see a ton of bomb shelters that have been built to help keep the citizens safe. Many buildings have these shelters as an added room. They have also put these shelters in the parks, sports fields, and schools. They have brought graffiti artists to make these shelters look cool and we even saw 2 shelters that were designed to look like caterpillars in a kid’s park.
Being able to visit this city was a great experience. It really opened my eyes to what’s happing in Israel. What this people go through is really sad and they definitely don’t deserve to live their entire lives being scared of rockets being shot at them. After seeing all this I really want to help make a difference in the world and especially Israel.
| Eric Medeiros looking in the distance by some rocket that have been shot at Sderot |
