#OutlookMagazine Anniversary Issue | A feeling of freedom - video Dailymotion

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00:00 I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the year-ender issue titled "We Bear Witness".

00:06 The issue is dedicated to the people of Gaza and what they went through.

00:10 A feeling of freedom, Muhammad Ayman, as told to Vinita Mokhil of Outlook.

00:17 Muhammad Ayman, co-founder of the Free Gaza Circus, is determined to entertain Gaza's kids.

00:24 My friend Yusuf Khader and I, both born and brought up in Gaza, started the Free Gaza Circus in 2018.

00:32 We also opened a school in North Gaza to train youngsters called the Free Gaza Circus Centre.

00:38 Circus culture is practically non-existent in Gaza.

00:42 Youngsters in Gaza were watching circus performances on social media.

00:47 We knew they were enjoying this, so we thought, why not have a circus group in our homeland?

00:52 We started the Free Gaza Circus to give youngsters and students in Palestine a chance to take up

00:58 something new, to connect better with the community and their teammates, and to experience

01:04 a feeling of liberation through performing in the circus.

01:08 There are many hardships that people, especially unemployed youths, have to suffer in Gaza.

01:14 Everyday life is a struggle for most Gazans.

01:17 We set up the circus because we wanted to give youngsters a chance to feel free.

01:23 It is a place where young people can be unselfconscious and freely express themselves through their bodies.

01:30 Before the war, we were in North Gaza.

01:33 We had 180 students during the school year.

01:36 In the summer break, there were over 2,000 students at the centre.

01:41 They were of all ages, 10-year-olds to teenagers, the whole bunch very excited to learn and perform.

01:47 We were like one big family.

01:50 We shared many laughs even in tough times.

01:53 When the war started, we had to evacuate to the south.

01:56 Our group got scattered.

01:58 We lost track of our students.

02:00 A few of us ended up at Jabalia camp and regrouped.

02:04 We heard that the centre was badly damaged in an Israeli attack.

02:08 But how can we go back there and check?

02:11 Now, we entertain the children and adults at the camp.

02:14 I like it when the children's faces light up.

02:17 When we perform for them, we hope that it takes their minds off the horrible violence that they have seen and suffered.

02:25 Forget the bomb strikes and ruined homes.

02:27 Forget the tears they have shed.

02:30 It distracts them from what is going on and gives them a sense of safety.

02:35 We give them a feeling of freedom for at least a few minutes.

02:39 It may be just a feeling.

02:41 It may not be real.

02:42 But we are happy to entertain them as the war rages on outside.

02:47 We also encourage them to do movement activities along with us.

02:52 This helps to release the fear and negative energy they have been bottling up inside because of the war.

02:59 We gather athletic people as we move from camp to camp.

03:02 So our group is growing these days.

03:05 We have performed at many of the UN Relief and Works Agency schools where displaced Palestinians are living today.

03:12 We will continue to do this as long as we are here.

03:15 The war can't stop us.

03:17 For this and more, read the Year-Ender issue of Outlook.

#OutlookMagazine Anniversary Issue | A feeling of freedom

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