The Eden Association has been operating in the Gaza periphery since 1997, running projects for young girls and women affected by trauma. The association specializes in treatment using a unique model that has helped over 1,000 girls and young women who have gone through prolonged traumatic life events, and managed to build a new life for themselves.

On non-war days, the Eden Association operates 4 major projects, all of which are located in the Gaza periphery; A Residential trauma care for at-risk girls aged 12-19, and a dedicated school for them in Kibbutz Karmia; The Eden for life program for post-traumatic young women aged 19-25 focuses on beneficial integration into the labor market and into adult life; and a center for the advancement of women in Kibbutz Dorot near Sderot.

About 60 girls who live and receive care throughout the year at the Eden Residential trauma care in Kibbutz Karmia on Gaza periphery (3 km from the border) and also study at Eden school, were displaced from their home. The place that was their safe place, for the first time in years became a war zone for an unknown period of time. The girls cannot return there and receive life-saving treatment. Our team, mostly residents of the Gaza envelope and nearby cities, were injured themselves, some of them sat besieged in the shelter for 30 hours until they were rescued, and some of them lost their loved ones – children, family members, and friends.

The war and the horrific testimonies that follow, overwhelm many young women and women of all ages, even those who have already recovered, post-trauma based on complex trauma from childhood (sexual abuse, neglect, abuse, lack of basic existential security, etc.). Girls and other women who live near us in the Gaza periphery, already need a therapeutic response that we can provide in light of the unimaginable events they experienced as individuals and as a community.