Partner: Zimam
As the war in Gaza continued into its second year, many displaced Gazan families living in Cairo faced prolonged instability. Without resident status or access to formal schooling, children were especially vulnerable to trauma, isolation, and disrupted development.
For children who had already endured loss, displacement, and uncertainty, the absence of school and routine added another layer of harm. They needed more than emergency shelter. They needed safety, learning, play, emotional care, and trusted adults who could help them begin to regain a sense of stability.
What B8 of Hope Supported
In 2025, B8 of Hope supported an emergency initiative led by Zimam, in partnership with Rise Alliance of Children, to provide trauma-informed educational and psychosocial support to Palestinian children displaced from Gaza and living in Cairo, Egypt.
The initiative established and continued to operate a dedicated play-based learning and psychosocial support space in central Cairo. Designed as a safe and nurturing environment, the program combined early childhood education with structured play, creative expression, music, movement, and storytelling.
These activities were grounded in trauma-informed practices, helping children process loss, rebuild emotional regulation, and restore a sense of routine and safety.
During the initial phase in July and August, the program operated in its dedicated learning space for 16 working days per month, offering three structured sessions per day. It reached a consistent group of approximately 60 children per month, allowing the team to provide continuity, close follow-up, and emotional stabilization for children whose schooling had been interrupted for extended periods.
In September, the project expanded by partnering with two schools and an additional kindergarten. This brought the same trauma-informed methodology directly into educational settings and reached approximately 250 additional children in that month alone. In total, an estimated 370–400 children benefited from the program between July and mid-September.
The project was implemented by a trained team composed primarily of young displaced educators from Gaza. Their leadership helped ensure cultural sensitivity, trust, and deep emotional understanding of the children’s experiences. Rise Alliance of Children contributed global expertise in trauma-informed interventions, while Zimam provided local leadership, community trust, and contextual knowledge.
What the Grant Made Possible
This Emergency Response Grant helped create a place where displaced children from Gaza could be children again.
Through learning, play, music, movement, storytelling, and emotional support, children were given opportunities to express themselves, reconnect with routine, and experience care in a safe environment. For families living with uncertainty, the program offered something deeply practical and deeply human: a steady space where their children could be supported, seen, and protected.
The grant also helped bring trauma-informed tools into schools and kindergartens, expanding support beyond one dedicated center and reaching hundreds more children.
Why it matters
Emergency support for children is not only about meeting immediate needs. It is also about protecting development, dignity, and the possibility of recovery.
By supporting this initiative, B8 of Hope helped ensure that displaced children from Gaza were not only cared for in the present, but also given access to learning, play, emotional connection, and a sense of safety.
In the middle of displacement and uncertainty, Zimam and Rise Alliance of Children helped preserve something essential: the right of children to be nurtured, supported, and allowed to imagine a future beyond crisis.