නීරස ගාසා ජීවිතයට කේක් රස ගේන ඩීමා

Gaza's young baker pursues her passion amid war and displacement

In the heart of the war-torn Gaza Strip, a young baker has found a way to keep her dreams alive, even as the violence around her continues to escalate.

Dima Omar Al-Buhaisi, a 22-year-old resident of Deir Al-Balah, is determined to become a professional baker.

Despite the ongoing conflict, Al-Buhaisi, who majored in accounting at university, has been baking cakes and distributing them to displaced families, offering a slice of hope in the midst of despair.

"I have been successful since I was young. For me, age is just a number, and dreams are not affected by this number. My dream began when I was 10 years old. I feel like I am late in achieving it. I follow chefs from all over the world and have a dream of becoming better than them," she said.

The latest outbreak of violence in Gaza, which began in October last year, has taken a heavy toll on Al-Buhaisi and her family.

"At the start of the war, fear was overwhelming. I couldn't even bake because the anxiety was paralyzing. We still haven't adjusted to this reality, but we're trying to endure until the war ends—though I'm not very optimistic. Before the war, I had a successful, independent project. I was earning from it and also covering the costs of my university studies, until the war came and wiped out everything. It brought me back to square one. War affects our psychological state in general, especially with the continuous drones flying 24 hours a day with their annoying sound, which causes us fatigue and headaches. My psychological state worsened, I felt despair, and I was unable to continue my project," said Al-Buhaisi.

"I am very grateful to my family: my father, mother, and sister, who supported me, believed that I was a creative person, and pushed me to follow my dream. I really stuck to baking, which I love. I had a barrier of fear that people would not accept me as a cake maker during the war. The opposite happened. The people in Gaza are wonderful and loved eating cake because they did not find anything good to eat during the war. I am so happy that some families have started bringing me ingredients to make cakes for them. It is very nice for a person to cling to their dream and not lose it," she said.

Al-Buhaisi's daily routine is both exhausting and symbolic of her resilience.

"Every day begins early with hours of searching for ingredients. Then I spend more than two hours heating the clay oven before finally putting in the cakes. Then I have to keep fire going. This work takes a whole day," she said.

As the war drags on, Al-Buhaisi continues to hold on to her dreams. She hopes to one day study at a culinary academy and refine her skills.

"I have a message to share: I wish the war would end today, so I can finally chase the dream I’ve had since I was ten years old - to study at an international culinary academy," she said.

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