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Under dire conditions, humanitarian aid has helped but not enough "to make a substantial difference in the lives of the affected population." As a result, strategies to generate alternate income have been used, farmers, for example, trying crop diversification or open-air planting after greenhouses were destroyed. Others sold assets or rely on the tunnel economy. Yet income generated is meager compared to earlier, including by fishermen, restricted on where they can go so their catch is smaller, less lucrative, and over-fished shallower waters are being depleted, compromising them further.
Other coping methods involve buying less, including essentials harming health and well-being, but with little income there's no choice. The quantity and quality of food consumed has dropped. As a result, health problems have increased, including higher incidences of anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other illnesses. Overall, the quality of life in all respects has steadily eroded since fall 2000, especially under siege.
Impact on Education
Seven educational institutions were identified within 1,500 meters of the Green Line, affecting around 250 teachers, administrative and maintenance staff serving about 4,400 students from elementary school to vocational training. Cast Lead entirely destroyed another school in the restricted area plus others, including college facilities, throughout the Strip.
Overall, "The safety of students and staff attending these institutions, the quality of education provided and the level of educational achievement have been seriously undermined by their frequent exposure to Israeli fire...." As a result, schools have incurred significant damage, remain vulnerable, and have diverted scarce funds for recurrent repair needs.
Students and staff say classes are often interrupted by nearby assaults, yet believe children are safer in school than if evacuated elsewhere, exposing them to conflict in the open. In addition, a shortage of facilities forces most schools to run on double schedules - shifts reducing overall class time, restricting the number of new students, and providing less education on very restricted budgets because everything needed is in short supply, compounded by traumatized students, their concentration and performance affected.
"A consistent message to emerge was that frequent exposure to life threatening situations, along with the systematic destruction of livelihoods, severely eroded people's basic sense of physical and economic security. This erosion is perceived as a key cause behind the recurrence of an array of negative symptoms" observed in students, families and communities, including:
-- increased adult depression;
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