The Journey from Gaza to Norwich, UK
One of our masters’ students charts a journey of a lifetime from Gaza to Norwich in the UK.
On the 7th of September at 03:30am, I woke up, dressed and prepared my bags to leave.
I prayed Al Fajr, and 10 minutes later the taxi that was going to take me to the checkpoint at Rafah, was in front of my house. I kissed my sister and gave her a long hug and then took my bags and put them in the taxi. My best friend helped me with my bags, and then he hugged me and wished me all the best of luck.
It may be only one year that I am going to spend in the UK, but I felt as if I was going for a longer time.
My beloved mother and father came with me all the way to Rafah. During our journey I was looking to everything in Gaza with a different view, and I felt as if I was leaving a part of me in that place. After 45 minutes we reached Khan Younis city, where all the passengers gather before going to the Rafah borders.
We gathered in Abu Yousuf Al Najar hall in Khan Younis, and the people just kept coming and coming. All of us handed our tickets to the authorities and waited.
From 05:45am until 09:00am, my parents and I were waiting, along with a lot of people, and during this time many questions were asked of us, which made us very worried. Are they going to call for my name to travel today? Am I going to face any trouble? Each half an hour the officers were calling the names of people who would be permitted to travel, before taking them to the Rafah crosspoint by bus.
Finally, at 09:30am they called my name. I couldn’t believe it. I kissed my parents’ hands, not knowing if that was the last time I would see them for a year, and I just ran to catch the bus.
Before I knew it, I was there, on the bus going to Rafah. I felt so happy, but filled with caution.
At 10:00am the bus reached the Rafah border. It was bus number 8, so there were 7 buses before us in addition to 7 other buses which were returning from the previous day.
From 10am until 6pm, a lot of us were waiting to move to the next step. There were a lot of prayers, and women asking God to make it easy for us to pass.
At 6pm the authorities asked us to go back to Gaza because the border crosspoint was going to close. They asked us to come back a few days later, on Saturday, but directly to Rafah crosspoint and to be there around 7am. So we went back to Gaza, which was a very strange feeling. Everyone was just saying it might be better to travel on Saturday.
As soon as I got home, I took a shower and then I called my sister to have dinner together. I slept to the middle of the next day and just enjoyed a normal day.
On Friday evening one of my friends called me and told me that I should be in Rafah very early because a lot of people planned to travel at the same time. So on Saturday at 03:00am I was on my way to Rafah again, but heading straight to the Khan Younis gathering point this time. No one was there, so I waited until 5am and then I asked someone working there if I should go to the Rafah crosspoint directly and he assured me that I should. So I went to Rafah but there was no one there, and I just waited. At 9 am we were finally on our bus and heading towards the Egyptian border.
On 12:30 pm I was in the Egyptian side of the border. I didn’t know how much time it would take to allow me to get in, but I was very afraid that I might not be allowed.
Yet, with my mothers’ prayers, after just 20 minutes of arriving they allowed me entry to Egypt. Actually they were very gentle and nice and allowed us to pass through calmly, thanks to God.
Then I took a taxi with a friend of mine and went to Cairo for 6 days! It was not enough time to see this lovely country but I was going for another goal rather than having just fun; I was going to continue my masters studies, so I was focusing on my main target.
On Saturday 17th I was in Cairo airport waiting for my plane. This was my first time in an airport and travelling on a plane. Everything was so new and weird for me!... but everything went in well.
After five and half hours of flying over fabulous views of nature and countries, I was there in Heathrow airport.
I have mentioned that Cairo airport was the first airport that I ever been to in my whole life, and I was afraid. So, for sure when I reached Heathrow airport I was totally lost! I didn’t know what to do, so I just followed all the passengers and finally we reached the passport control area. As usual, I prepared all of my papers and felt nervous.
This time however, it was a totally new experience for me; I didn’t know what was happening with me, but I everything felt comfortable and easy.
I queued in front of the desk until my turn, so the officer asked me simple questions about why I was visiting the UK, and where I would be studying. She also asked me to show her all of my documents… and that was it!
I had arrived! I tried to call people from my university but they were on vacation. It was 6pm UK time, so I couldn’t travel directly to my university in Norwich. I didn’t know where to go, but the first thing I did was buy a SIM card to call my family. After that I found a group of volunteers of old women, who were looking out for new arrivals to help.
So, I went to one of them and asked for her help, and she went with me to a reception desk to ask about available rooms in London hotels. London Fashion Week, meant that all the hotels were full, so I went to a place outside central London called Acton Town where I spent my first night. The next day I went to Norwich and contacted my supervisor who welcomed me to the UK and advised me on what to do.
‘Lovely, ancient and modern’ was my opinion of Norwich when I first arrived. I spent three nights in a hotel in Norwich because my accommodation was not ready yet and during my whole journey from Gaza to Norwich I was thankfully feeling the effect of my family prayers and love.
In the beginning, I was a little bit cautious because of the different culture that I found and I didn’t want to be look like a stranger. The people were, and continue to be, very friendly, and whenever you ask for help they help you.
Finally, I hope to spend this year in the best way I can to go back to my home town with new experience that will improve my skills and help me to develop my wonderful country.
