ON A Saturday, I decided to visit Lake Vista Park, located in Wisconsin鈥檚 Oak Creek city, for a quick escape from monotony at home. We drove for 20 minutes to reach the Michigan lakeshore. Historically, even though Oak Creek has been on the bluffs along Lake Michigan, access to the lake from there has remained almost out of reach given the industrial activity that has occupied the lakefront for over 100 years. As a result, contamination of water with arsenic and other pollutants has been rife.
In the 1970s and 1980s, factories began to shut down and the site became vacant until the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources partnered with the city council to conduct environmental remediation. Lake Vista Park eventually, and officially, was opened to the public in August 2018. Once a major source of pollution for Lake Michigan, the park area is now a model of green redevelopment and a spot for families to get together for picnics or simply enjoy the breathtaking scenery.听
As I strolled along the walking trail encircling the playground and towards the lakeshore, I repeatedly glanced at my children and their friends laughing and running around happily. Since the long summer break is approaching, most schoolchildren are now sitting for their final exams. Because of that, I wanted my kids to be outdoors for a while to get some fresh air, stretch their muscles and engage with nature as a way to rejuvenate themselves. In all honesty, the 鈥榥ature therapy鈥� was something I needed too, after a long week of hectic work schedule. So, while keeping an eye on my children, I walked along the lakeshore while having a long conversation with a close friend. We talked about everything and anything that came to mind 鈥� from kids to kichuri, and from Wisconsin鈥檚 minimum wage to Dunkin鈥� Donuts!
After spending two hours hiking the upland bluff area along the shoreline and enjoying snacks at a spot directly facing the blue waters of Lake Michigan, I felt relaxed and calm. The musical sound of waves crashing on the beach reminded me of how important it is for humans to live close to nature and to inhabit a clean and green environment because that clearly has an impact on our mental health. As a public health physician, I cannot emphasise enough the value and impact of the built environment, natural beauty and green space on human psychology and cognitive function.
Alas, not everyone is as fortunate to enjoy this blessing! My thoughts quickly turned to the genocide victims in Gaza, who are at this very moment desperately fleeing explosions over their heads. For most of these children and their families, life is all about seeing rubble and dead bodies. Forget about green space or nature, having a place called home is a wild dream for them. If an average person needs regular contact with nature to offset the mental stress and anxiety of the daily struggles at work and home, how do these genocide victims, who are being bombed day and night, cope with such extreme forms of stress and trauma to maintain their sanity?
Published statistics showed that more than half of the children in Gaza were already suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder before the current, ongoing genocide. Another study found that almost one-third of children there showed symptoms of severe depression. Worse, mental health issues in this area often go undiagnosed and untreated. These have resulted from the widespread violence and brutality that Palestinians were subjected to on a daily basis: long decades of blockade, destruction of the health system and psychiatric facilities, and a lack of internet connection that prevented access to teletherapy.
This public health crisis does not stop there but extends to healthcare workers. Ample evidence points to the extreme levels of mental distress and psychological trauma faced by healthcare workers due to the extraordinarily hazardous working conditions. This includes hospitals being consistently and systematically targeted and besieged, and medical personnel being sniped at, wounded and killed. We heard of tragic anecdotes of how healthcare workers in Gaza were forced to make impossible choices, ration care for their patients, and perform surgical procedures 鈥� including amputation 鈥� without painkillers! All these were endured amidst the constant fear that the hospital itself might turn into a battlefield any time. Indeed, the Israeli forces raided Gaza鈥檚 largest hospital, al-Shifa, two times between November 2023 and March 2024, leaving the place sheltering thousands of the sick and wounded in utter destruction. In fact, al-Shifa was not the only one. In a heart-wrenching article titled 鈥楪aza: 鈥楴o health system left,鈥� says MSF鈥� published in BMJ early this year, the author penned the following: MSF鈥檚 (M茅decins Sans Fronti茅res) secretary general, Christopher Lockyear, said, 鈥楾here is no health system to speak of left in Gaza. Israel鈥檚 military has dismantled hospital after hospital. What remains is so little in the face of such carnage. 鈥楾he excuse given is that medical facilities have been used for military purposes, yet we have seen zero independently verified evidence of this鈥︹��
Because of Israel鈥檚 mass killing and rampage that began not on October 7, 2023, but many decades ago, much of Gaza is now reduced to rubble. The hygiene situation is dire, the food and nutritional crisis has reached an unprecedented level, clean water is scarce, and the vast majority of Gaza鈥檚 population has been displaced. On top of that, an additional threat looms under the city鈥檚 massive ruins 鈥� unexploded ordnances. These are basically explosives that did not detonate upon the first impact. According to the United Nations, there are approximately 7,500 tonnes of live munitions scattered throughout the Gaza Strip and it may take 14 years before the city can be safe and free from these bombs.
At the same time, illegal Israeli settlements continue to expand at the expense of Palestinian homes and properties as the world continues to watch in either indifference, apathy or helplessness. For Palestinians, having a roof over their heads is a perilous struggle, let alone having access to healthy built environments and green spaces. Stories like how Palestinians in Ramallah were prevented by Israeli settlers from entering forests and green spaces near their villages and how confiscated lands are turned into beautiful tourism hubs for Israelis perpetuate the irony that natural beauty, parks and green spaces are not a universal commodity accessible to everyone but a 鈥榩rivilege鈥� entitled to the few.
As I drove back home from Lake Vista Park, I continued to ruminate over the devastation of Gaza and how the lack of a safe, healthy and green living environment will affect the displaced and traumatised children in the years to come. But underneath my anxiety lies hope and optimism. The ongoing resistance and outcry by the international community and students across the globe have sent a clear message: that the Israeli occupation will not sustain and is meant to collapse. When that happens, my earnest hope is to see Gaza rebuilt and become inhabitable again, this time with unsurpassed natural beauty and green spaces. My wish is for those children who have been severely deprived to have their own Lake Vistas along with uplands, cliffs and blue waters in which they can dwell in joy without restriction.
Just as the waves of Lake Michigan brought me calmness and serenity, I pray that the soothing sounds of beaches along the Gaza strip will be heard again. But this time in the absence of warfare noises and deafening explosions.
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Dr Raudah Mohd Yunus is a public health expert. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, USA.
