Samar is struggling to keep her child alive. The child has a lung disease that makes him permanently dependent on a respirator that works on electric power. For this reason, Samar remains in constant concern and takes her son to the hospital from time to time in order not to suffocate.

Samar's story is more than a unique humanitarian story. It is one example of the 2 million people living in this besieged enclave, where electricity is available only three hours a day, since Israel imposed a blockade in 2016. Hospitals rely on The same and some other buildings on generators to ensure the continuity of electricity during the hours of interruption, but it is very expensive, and is until recently considered a luxury that "Samar" can not get.

Meanwhile, Palestinian businesswoman, Majd Al-Mashharawi, executive director of a company that is working to provide a radical solution to the power crisis in Gaza, is on the line. "I wanted to address two intractable problems for Gaza society: electricity and building materials," she says. Al-Mashharawi was able to design the so-called Sunbox, a solar-powered device that generates electricity to counter the blockade. This device only has three hours to recharge at full capacity. She laughs that the sun will never go from Gaza.

More than just a box

"The Sun Box is more than just a solar device that provides light for my children to study and operate television," Samar said. "It has really changed my life by providing electricity to power the medical device of my sick child." "Now I don't have to worry every day, and my concerns are whether I can go to the hospital or not. I no longer have to run to arrive on time to supply oxygen before something happens."

The Sun Fund, which is imported from China, feeds generators with energy, but is still expensive for Gaza residents, at $ 450, so it is not available to the general population. The unemployment rate in the sector, according to the World Bank, is the highest. Globally, 47% of the population are unemployed. Majd says her first unit was in a refugee camp. "The next day I went back to the camp to find all the residents watching football using the energy generated from that unit. “This achievement was inspired by another idea, that every two families share one generating unit, to reduce the cost.”

The company started its work by providing power to 15 families.This number is rising rapidly, and says that in the first quarter of 2019, more than 100 people are using a clean power source. One agent, Mona, says this energy enabled her to continue working as a seamstress in her home. She explains that her small businesses were badly affected by the electricity crisis, and she often stayed awake all night awaiting the return of electricity. "I don't have to worry now, because I wake up whenever I want, sleep whenever I want," she says. "I never imagined I could have my own energy source and feel independent."

Use debris

The Sun Fund is not the first project by Majd to solve Gaza's crises. After the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, 17,000 homes were destroyed or destroyed, and about 100,000 people remained homeless, according to the United Nations. The war and the ensuing devastation had a profound effect on Majd. "I thought, as an engineer, what can I do for my people?" There is a need to rebuild homes, but the ban on many imports means that Gazans will not be able to get cement and bricks. But she was able to establish her first project, using the wreckage left behind by the destruction. The "green cake" was its revolutionary solution, where it was able to mix ash with rubble, creating a cheap and solid brick at the same time.

Several experiments

Her team ran dozens of experiments to find the prototype that passed the water and fire resistance tests. The result was largely positive, costing her first client to build a 1,000-block exterior wall. "I don't intend to just design blocks," she says. "I want to change the stereotype that people see in Gaza women." For Majd, she considers her inventions a crucial way to challenge stereotypes of women in Gaza and pave the way for other women entrepreneurs. Customers are often surprised to discover that the CEO of Sun Fund is a female in her twenties and tells how her student ratio at the Islamic University in Gaza was 6-1 male to female. These ideas have been pushing them further and further: "Education is the strongest weapon we women have to fight for our freedom."

- Mashharawi was able to design what is known

Or “Sunbox,” which is a phrase

Its a device that draws solar power to generate electricity

In order to counter the blockade, it is connected to slabs

Residents can be installed on the surface, to generate

1000 kW of electricity derived

Of solar energy.

- I started a company

Mashharawi her work

By providing

Energy for 15 families,

That number rises

Quickly, it says

In the first quarter

From 2019, it became

More than 100 people

They use a source

Clean energy.