Mahmoud is 18 years old. I first met him during a visit to his house, in January 2005, one year after he was injured severely by missile fragments from an Israeli plane which targeted a place near Mahmoud's house. More than twelve people were killed in this attack, amongst them his brother and his cousin. Mahmoud's injuries were so serious that he had to spend more than six months in Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza, and two more months in Tal Hashomer hospital in Israel.

Anyone who sees Mahmoud can easily tell about his trauma, and the sadness he lives in. Usually, we prefer to stay silent because we think that there is nothing to help. Mahmoud talks in a shocked voice, with tears in his eyes, about his night dreams. He says: "I always dream of my brother and cousin. My dreams are full of blood, shooting and screaming voices. I confess I am afraid of any loud voice, regardless of the fact that it is shameful for a man to feel like that. I can't concentrate in my study. I can't enter the places which remind me of my brother - and any place reminds me of him. I don't want to eat, I can't sleep. Sometimes I get aches that make me faint. Most of my life changed after this terrible incident. My greatest hope is to get rid of my bloody dreams, to stop seeing these horrible and painful scenes in my sleep''.

Mahmoud's treatment has changed with our visit in January 2005. Instead of giving him medicine to ease the pain he suffers from, instead of giving him pills to increase his appetite and to make him sleep at night, he was treated by support therapy. The improvement is noticeable: the pains decreased, the appetite improved, but his experiences are still alive. There is still a long way to cure his psychological trauma.