She asks help from Good Samaritans who may have extra laptops to spare for her daughters’ school requirements
The Filipina mother and her seven children who escaped war-torn Gaza recently, as reported by the media, are now back in the UAE.
They took a circuitous route – evacuating first in Manila with help from the Philippine government back in November last year – before arriving in Dubai last week. The family has settled in a temporary one-bedroom apartment in Ajman, the present accommodation of the 44-year-old Palestinian father. who works in Dubai.
“Sorry for asking,” the mother apologetically wrote in a curt WhatsApp message sent to the media on Wednesday. “The kids are doing fine and they are back in school. But they need a laptop for their school requirements. I hope there is someone who has an extra laptop or smart tablet to spare for my daughters,” she added.
Marlene’s children are very studious. In fact, her eldest daughter, who is 15, won full scholarship from Aiglon College, an international boarding school in Switzerland, before the war escalated in Gaza in October last year.
“She is now waiting for her student visa and she will finish senior high school in Switzerland,” Marlene proudly said.
Two of his younger sons – aged 7 and 6, who are supposed to be in Grades 2 and 1 – however, have yet to find a school. “All nearby schools are already full,” Marlene said.
“The kids now have a routine. My daughters are picked up by the school bus at 6am and they are home by 3pm,” Marlene shared, adding: “Even my youngest, who is 3, has started reading alphabets and counting numbers.”
Marlene continued: “Yes, my children are now all safe but the scars of war are still there. They are still struggling to find peace.”
“Because we live near the Sharjah Airport, there were many times my seven-year old would anxiously run to me after hearing the sound of aeroplanes. ‘Are we being followed by Israeli fighter planes?’ – my son would ask me,” added Marlene, who earlier said: “Even the sound of the metallic electric fan brought my young son to tears as it sounded like attack drones.”
Marlene and her seven children left their home in Deir Al Balah that was bombed twice, with nothing but a single emergency bag containing all their passports. Miraculously, no one died in the attacks and no one was seriously injured, except for a shrapnel that hit Marlene near her abdomen.
Marlene’s in-laws, aged 75 and 73, decided to remain in Deir Al Balah because they couldn’t endure the 20-km journey to the Rafah border. “They have surrendered their fate to God. When our house was bombed for the third time, my 73-year-old mother-in-law just lay down on the floor and prayed,” she said.
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