Fundraiser for Cork-linked Gaza yoga hub

A UCC graduate who founded a women’s yoga and circus hub in Gaza is calling on the people of Cork for financial aid to help support the 30 women connected to the hub.

Jenny Higgins, an Irish circus coach and aid worker based in Jordan, founded the Gaza Women’s Yoga and Circus Hub in 2018.

A GoFundMe page is now up and running with a target of €5,000 to help support the 30 women and girls who, through the hub, have found passion, community, and friendship amidst ongoing threat and violence.

The women, some of whom are pregnant, have all been displaced by the Palestine-Israel conflict and have no way to generate an income. With their homes destroyed, many are staying in houses with up to 50 people, and some are living in cars. They have trouble finding food, and they can’t flush toilets.

“I’m uncomfortable and the night is terrifying and dark”, one of the women said.

“I act like I’m strong some of the time, but at night I collapse. I’ve lost control of myself, I can’t take it,” another hub user said.

Ms Higgins, who developed a love for circus arts at Cork’s Circus Factory while pursuing an MA in Human Rights at UCC, said financial aid is the best way to help the women who, if they survive the war, are faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their lives from the ground up.

“Even if they survive the bombing, just surviving day to day is becoming increasingly impossible,” said Ms Higgins. “Cash assistance like this is the most dignified way to provide support to people in a crisis situation,” she added.

Fundraising show on Leeside

In an effort to raise further funds locally, members of the circus community in Cork have come together to put on a special circus show here on Leeside this Saturday.

Circus communities in Dublin, Sligo, and Belfast will also be running shows.

In Cork, the show will be performed at 4.30pm and again at 6pm on Saturday at Collective Cork on Tobin Street in Cork city centre. Tickets are available at eventbrite.ie.

Organising the Cork show is circus artist Brenda Long who said: “It is important to show solidarity with Palestinians in the face of the extreme violence they are being subjected to and do whatever we can to assist where we can. It’s vital that this money is raised urgently.”

All funds raised by the GoFundMe campaign and live shows will be transferred directly to the women as cash assistance so they can decide for themselves how best to use it.