Despite Israeli Blockade:

A Made-in-Gaza Racing Car Runs F1, 2011 

With support from the Welfare Association (WA) and the Welfare Association for Youth (WAY), a group of students from United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) Khan Younis Training Center (KYTC) in Gaza has recently entered the 2011 Formula Student Auto Race Contest in the United Kingdom. After two years of hard work, the group managed to build a Formula 1 style car from scratch, out of recycled parts. The contest which was held in 14-17 of July 2011, was organized by the Institution for Mechanical Engineers, the fastest growing professional engineering institution in the UK.

While the blockade of Gaza Strip enters its 5th year, the team was able to deliver the message of determination, providing a compelling insight into the challenges that confront the young and talented in the Strip. Most of the parts for the car had to be manufactured at the centre’s modest workshop. For the engine, the team had to buy an old motorcycle to use its engine. The car now boasts an engine originally intended for a Honda 2002 bike.

The Welfare Association and the Welfare Association for Youth have allocated a grant of $20 thousand to cover expenses of  the car shipping and team travel to the UK. The making of the car as well as preparations for the contest were made possible with the financial support from Bank of Palestine, Pal Tel Group Foundation and Al Quds (Jerusalem) Bank.

Dr. Nabil Qaddumi, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Welfare Association, said: “We are very proud of such an achievement made by a young Palestinian team. A made-in-Gaza car is something not to be sniffed at. I’m sure the young team has delivered the message: Palestinians will always survive and they deserve a better life.”

According to sources, Colin Brown, Director of Engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “It really is inspirational to see a team working so hard with the odds stacked against them like this. Formula Student is a massive challenge in its own right, but to be working with almost entirely recycled parts in one of the most deprived areas in the world is absolutely remarkable.”

Many of the students at the KYTC are classified by UNRWA as poor. Families living in poverty generally have an income of US $2-3 a day. Yet Osama al Othmani, the team’s leader,  is incredibly proud of his team and proud to be a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza.

“We are challenging all the pressures here, and the blockade,” he said. “We want to prove to the world that even if we are living on nothing, we can still create something from it!