📍 Location: Beit Lahya, Gaza
📅 Date: September 2023
✍️ By: Tareq Rajab, Sawaed19 Qaf Team – Social Leaders under Sawaed19
There’s something sacred about the sea in Gaza.
It carries the stories of longing, survival, and every child’s dream of freedom.
That’s why when we launched “The Sea Is Ours” (مبادرة البحر بضحك إلنا), we weren’t just cleaning a beach.
We were reclaiming it.
This initiative—part of our social leadership journey under Sawaed19 and in proud partnership with Shiam Institute and the Future Development Commission—was a love letter to Gaza’s coastline. A shout from our hearts that Gaza deserves clean air, clean spaces, and collective joy.
🌊 What We Did
We mobilized more than 500 volunteers. Yes, five hundred.
From civil defense teams to scout groups, school kids to social workers—everyone showed up.
Together, we:
- Conducted a massive beach cleanup in Beit Lahya
- Installed solid waste bins and introduced gamified disposal challenges
- Organized environmental awareness events including youth talks and art circles
- Led hands-on recycling workshops in open-air tents
This wasn’t just logistics. It was community theatre—where every gesture became a statement of care.
🌱 Why It Mattered
Gaza’s environment suffers silently. But clean spaces are a human right, not a luxury. And we wanted to prove that even in a besieged city, we could create moments of beauty, learning, and hope.
One child told us,
“For the first time, I picked up something from the sand that wasn’t broken glass.”
Another painted a fish with a trash bag in its mouth—and then promised to come back next week, with friends, to help.
🔁 Our Zero-Budget, Zero-Excuses Model
You might wonder how we pulled this off.
The answer? Community partnerships, shared purpose, and no ego.
Our partners included:
- Beit Lahya Municipality
- Palestinian Red Crescent
- Palestinian Civil Defense
- Rawafed Forum
- Palestinian Scouts Group
No money exchanged hands. But so much value was created.
💚 What’s Next?
We believe this is just the beginning. Environmental volunteering in Palestine can become a national movement. If we continue to build it with heart, not hierarchy.And now, every time we walk past Beit Lahya’s shore and see those bins, those murals, those tiny footprints…
we remember: the sea is ours and so is the future.
