As 13-year-old Palestinian child Ibrahim al-Nemnem grew up between the narrow alleys of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, a dear dream to be an engineer and improve the lives of its inhabitants grows up simultaneously.
"My dream is simple, it is improving this poor place," al-Nemnem told Xinhua as he sat with his refugee mates in a wooden hut overlooking the beach.
As the world observes the International Day for Protection of Children on June 1, al-Nemnem and his peers occupy their young minds with big dreams of a better, safer and more stable life in one of the most hard-hit and dangerous areas in the world.
Despite his young age, the little boy has mature thoughts; a reality that can be easily observed among Palestinian children who have witnessed at least three major Israeli wars in the besieged coastal territory which is ruled by Islamic Hamas movement.
"I know this camp is supposed to be a temporary residence, but it seems we might live here for decades; that is why I want to renovate my poor camp," the little boy said enthusiastically.
Shati camp is located in the Gaza City along the Mediterranean Sea coastline. The camp's total land area consists of 727,000 square meters and has a population of approximately 82,000 people, which makes it the most overcrowded amid Gaza's seven refugee camps.
As a refugee, Al-Nemnem believes that he has been deprived of all his rights and the least he should get is a human life in a good clean place unless the plight of the refugees is resolved.
"If my dream is going to come true, I will start with our home," the boy said, flashing a hopeful smile. "It is a shabby one-storey old house that really barely fits animals."
Despite the reality of his painful life, al-Nenmen still has some dreams as a child; simple dreams that, however, seem somehow unattainable.
"I want to play with my friends in a garden or a playground, but we have no place to play at the overcrowded refugee camp," he said. "Providing play areas for the camp's kids would be a priority when I become an engineer."
Israel, which has been imposing a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, had waged three large-scale wars on the impoverished coastal enclave, where hundreds of children were killed, thousands injured and tens of thousands became homeless.
According to Save the Children non-governmental organization, 551 children in Gaza were killed and 3,436 were injured, while an estimated 1,500 lost their parents during 2014 conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Many more were also made homeless and saw their schools damaged or destroyed.
Al-Nemnem might be lucky as his persistence and the family's support to help him achieve his dream to be an engineer have so far helped him continue his education.
But the poverty of 16-year-old Mahmoud Zidan, also from Shati camp, has forced him quit school and started to work as a fisherman three months ago.
The little boy said he always wanted to be a teacher, but he had to throw this dream away since he had to find a job to help his aging father bring food to their large family.
"Man does not attain all his heart's desires," he said as he prepared himself to board a fishing boat. (Xinhua)
