One skateboard… and children waiting for their turn.
In a displacement camp in Gaza, Rimas Daloul, 16, continues to hold on to what she started as a child. She first stepped onto a skateboard at the age of seven, after receiving her first board as a birthday gift. Since then, she hasn’t stopped.
“Skateboarding is the only place where I can forget everything,” she says.
During the war, her education was interrupted for two years, as she and her family were displaced multiple times across northern Gaza. Amid bombardment and hunger, skateboarding became more than a hobby—it became a way to cope, a brief escape from fear.
Inside a shelter at the YMCA, children began watching her as she skated. Slowly, they came closer, asking to try. With only one board, Rimas started teaching them, guiding them through the basics—how to stand, balance, and move.
Over time, more children joined. What began as curiosity grew into a small, shared space for play and release, in the middle of displacement.
Rimas lost part of her home in Al-Zeitoun, along with relatives and friends. Still, she continued—finding in the children a reason to keep going.
“Every time I think about stopping… I come back because of them.”
She dreams of traveling and developing her skills, but for now, she chooses to stay—here, with them.
Here, the skateboard is no longer just a game. It is a way to stay.
In her own words:
“Love life until the very last day… even in the hardest conditions.”
