Sustaining Hope in Gaza Through Puppetry
Bringing joy, resilience, and healing to displaced children through the art of puppet theatre.
While headlines focus on devastation, behind the scenes in Gaza, something quite extraordinary is happening: a troupe of artists is bringing stories, laughter, and healing to children displaced by war.
Camp Theater is a grassroots puppet troupe founded in 2023 by a group of Gazan artists—actors, directors, and makers—determined to reach children where they are: in shelters, in displacement camps, in the heart of crisis. Together, they are proving that art can be an act of care, resistance, and community healing.
What Is Camp Theater?
Camp Theater is a street theatre troupe offering therapeutic, educational, and social performances using puppetry. Founded by a group of actors, directors, and makers from Gaza, their work is a response to crisis—bringing art directly to children in displacement camps and shelters. In spite of the never ending presence of drones and threats of bombing, puppeteers continue their work of providing puppet shows and art activities as relief, education, and support to children and their families.
“Regardless of circumstance, we remain artists and educators. We have to continue making art—for ourselves and for our community.”
Project Objectives
The aims of Camp Theater isn’t just entertainment—it’s a carefully designed psychosocial project:
Provide emergency relief to displaced children through performance and storytelling.
Address behavioural challenges caused by war-related trauma through positive character modelling.
Reduce psychological and physical stress through emotionally safe artistic experiences.
Foster hope and happiness, even in the harshest environments.
UPDATE
While the crisis escalates, founders and members of the troupe among other Gazan puppeteers continue to find camps to evade the bombings while providing relief to other children and families. As food supplies are severely reduced, costs have escalated with fundamental needs requiring hundreds of dollars per day. They therefore continue to reach out for aid for themselves and their own children. BrUNIMA among other UNIMA centres and artists around the world continue to lend their support financially and advocate their rescue, art, and the end of the situation.
Who They Reach
Target audience: Children aged 6–15
Secondary audience: Their parents and caregivers
Performance locations:
50% in informal displacement camps
30% in UNRWA shelters
20% in organized displacement camps managed by NGOs or local groups
Meet the Artists
These committed individuals continue their work despite all odds:
Yousef Al-Hindi (Camp Theater, Gaza) GoFundMe Page – Puppet Maker / Screenwriter / Director
Baha Ghazi Al-Yazji – Actor / Director / Puppeteer / Secretary
Murad Al-Maghari’s GoFundMe page – Actor / Director / Puppeteer / Treasurer
Wasim Nasser Al-Hindi – Actor / Director / Puppeteer / Production Manager
Halima Musa – Actress / Puppeteer
Saji M. Al Hendi – Photographer / Puppeteer
They are supported by international puppet educators and endorsed by UNIMA International’s Cooperation Commission.
How You Can Help
Your contribution directly supports performances, materials, and essential aid for Camp Theater’s work with children in Gaza. Even a small donation makes a real impact:
Mahdi Karera (Kayyout Theatre, Gaza) GoFundMe page
Prefer to donate by PayPal or direct transfer? Contact cooperation@unima.org for full details.
You can also help by sharing this story within your networks.
Emergency Aid for Puppeteers
The UNIMA Cooperation Commission is part of UNIMA International, an organization affiliated with UNESCO. Its mission is to protect, develop, and support puppetry worldwide—especially in times of crisis.
Through its Emergency Aid program, UNIMA helps puppeteers affected by war, disasters, and displacement by providing:
Food and hygiene supplies
Medical aid and shelter support
Tools to continue creative and educational work
The commission ensures transparent, dignified distribution of aid, with artists' privacy respected unless they choose to share their story publicly.
📧 Contact us: cooperation@unima.org
🌐 Learn more: www.unima.org
With warm wishes and deep gratitude,
BrUNIMA Team and
The UNIMA Cooperation Commission
On behalf of Camp Theater, Gaza