“Eleven times I packed what little remained of our lives into a single bag.”

“My name is Asmaa, and I am from northern Gaza. In October 2023, my first displacement began – and it was not the last. Eleven times I packed what little remained of our lives into a bag and set off with my four children in search of a safer place. I had always dreamt of becoming a hairdresser. I had a small beauty salon where I styled brides, and on the wall I hung the very first hairstyle I had ever perfected. But in a single day, everything was reduced to rubble and ruins.

After separating from my husband, I became solely responsible for the children. I tried to keep them in school, but with the education system in ruins and hunger spreading, worry became part of our daily life: how to find our next meal, how the children could continue learning with no schools, no internet and no electricity.

In the midst of this darkness, a helping hand reached out to me. Through Ajyal, I was able to start a small project and revive my profession. I became a mobile hairdresser: my bag is my salon, and my scissors, rollers and comb are my tools of hope. I move between tents and temporary shelters, doing a child’s hair after a difficult day or preparing a mother for a small gathering where she wants to remember that she is still a woman worthy of joy.

I have learnt that beauty is not a luxury – it is a small sanctuary where we reclaim our dignity. Every hairstyle I manage to complete, every smile I glimpse in a cracked mirror, tells me that I am still standing. I dream of opening a new salon, even if it only has three chairs, and of my children returning to their classrooms. The road ahead is long, but I hold my scissors the way I hold on to life – with perseverance and quiet strength, step by step.”

Text and photo: Ajyal