My house is more beautiful than all the palaces on earth

Psychologist Wurud Yassin, Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution. "Our house is more like a ruin that it is impossible for anyone to live in, and I live on stones and rocks, and this house is not fit for human or animal habitation." When Mrs. H. said these words I did not believe her, because I did not expect that anyone in this age still lives such a life and in such a house. But the field visit was the decisive test of what she says and how she lives. The story began when we started looking for the house and moving through the village's narrow streets, until we reached a dirt road, and one of the women told us that H. lives in that house. We walked down that dirt road until we reached the house, but the idea of the house had still not reached us. We entered the house, and there was a house more like a dwelling not fit for human habitation: there is nothing in it but mattresses and a small mat on which she and her family sleep, along with her two daughters with disabilities, who need health care, cleanliness and a suitable place. But the house has none of these basic essentials, and in addition there is no sewage or bathroom. Living in what is called a house are Mrs. H., her husband, three daughters, and the chickens, chicks and pigeons, and life is shared in everything, eating, drinking and sleeping. In addition to all this, Mrs. H. is severely beaten by her brothers when she asks them for financial help, because her husband is unable to do any work owing to the severing of the arteries of his right hand. She is prevented from social visits to neighbours and family, and she was married off to be rid of the burden of her and of bearing responsibility for her, and she moved from bad to worse, and there is no one to listen to her and offer her help. "I would like to tell you that my house, despite all this, is the most beautiful house on earth. It is enough for me that I live in it with my three daughters, and I try to make them happy despite the scarcity of everything and despite the fact that it can hardly be called a house."