Art from the Heart

This is the digital exhibition of artworks and message from children all over the world prepared by the Children's Advisory Team of Child Rights Connect. The goal is to support the discussion at the Annual Day on the Rights of the Child at the UN Human Rights Council about children in armed conflict by showing how children see the world, how conflict affects them, and what they want adults and decision makers to do to protect them.

Children’s voices matter. Their views matter. Even, and especially, in times of war. When children are listened to, peace becomes possible.

نريد غزة

لا تحصي الشهداء قبل الصياح

ولا تعلم أطفالها

معنى الخوف قبل الحروف

نريدها

تفتح نوافذ للبحر

لا للبارود

ويكون الموج فيها

أعلى من صوت القصف

نريد غزة

تزرع بالعلم لا بالأسلاك

وبالمدارس لا بالملاجئ

ويكبر الحلم فيها

أسرع من الحصار

نريدها مدينة تحت الصبر

وتكتب تاريخها

بأيدي البنائين

لا بأرقام الضحايا

غزة التي نريد

لا تنسى الجراح

لكنها لا تعيش فيها

تمشي نحو الشمس

وهي تحمل الذاكرة

لا القيود

ستكون غزة

حين نريدها حقا

أرضا تعلم العالم

أن من تحت الركام

تولد الحياة

English Translation

We want a Gaza

That does not count martyrs before dawn,

Nor teaches its children

The meaning of fear before their letters.

We want it

To open windows to the sea,

Not to gunpowder;

Where the waves rise

Higher than the sound of shelling.

We want a Gaza

Planted with knowledge, not with barbed wire,

With schools, not with shelters;

Where dreams grow

Faster than the siege.

We want it a city under patience,

Writing its history

With the hands of builders,

Not with the numbers of victims.

The Gaza we want

Does not forget its wounds,

But does not live within them;

It walks toward the sun

Carrying its memory,

Not its chains.

Gaza will be,

When we truly want it,

A land that teaches the world

That from beneath the rubble…

Life is born.

 

The Gaza We Want غزة التي نريد

First Name: Mohammed

Age: 14

Country: Palestine

Type: Poems and Short Stories

Description:

These artistic works were developed within the framework of the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) initiative “Gaza We Want.” The initiative supports children and young people in expressing their hopes, experiences, and visions for a peaceful future through creative and artistic mediums.