Gardenia City is a vast, gated residential complex sandwiched between four expressways on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. Characterized by uniform buildings and nameless streets, it's a place devoid of charm yet where a certain tranquility reigns. "This neighborhood is good because we need somewhere calm to recover from what we've been through," said Neama Rahmi, 33, from the terrace of the apartment where she settled with her family after fleeing the war waged by Israel in the Gaza Strip. "The children are still scared," she said, holding 2-year-old Fayrouz in her arms. "I have to explain to them that the planes passing overhead aren't going to bomb us; they don't understand how it's possible."

Together with her husband, Sameh-Nidal; her parents-in-law, Mahfouz and Wafiqa; and her two daughters, Beirut and Fayrouz, they left Gaza on January 14. "We came here to be safe," she said, recalling how they survived for over three months, along with 35 members of her family, in their house in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the enclave.

Seated at the large dining room table, Sameh-Nidal couldn't believe he had made it out. "It's a miracle," he said, repeatedly. Using their contacts around the world, his photographer friends managed to get the six family members on the list of people authorized to leave the enclave. This enabled the Rahmi family to avoid the organized racket of exit permits, sold by intermediaries for the equivalent of thousands of euros.

Since they arrived, there has seemed to be a semblance of normality. Seven-year-old Beirut has returned to school remotely, despite her disrupted sleep due to the trauma of war. Five times a week, she attends Arabic, math and English classes thanks to a video system set up by the Palestinian Authority's Education Ministry for children who have fled the war. In the enclave, 625,000 pupils have no access to education, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Her little sister, Fayrouz, spends her days strolling around the apartment under the loving gaze of her grandmother Wafiqa.

The small 68-year-old woman inspires wisdom. As the family's financial manager, she skilfully juggles her hastily-packed savings along with the aid sent by her two other sons, Yasser and Khaled, who have settled in Spain, and by her brothers in Lebanon. "Thank God," said the grandmother, who also brought the family's gold and important documents, such as their qualifications, property and marriage certificates. Together with her husband Mahfouz, a former Fatah leader and loyal traveling companion of Yasser Arafat, they lived in exile until the Oslo Accords in 1993.

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