By going back and forth to Gaza over five years, Monique has been able not only to follow the girls as they grow up, but to chart the political and social shifts in the area over time. She says that on her most recent trip, the girls told her that life right now is the worst they’ve ever known, except for during active wartime. “There’s an electricity crisis, and that changes your whole routine – you can’t charge your phone, you can only do laundry once in a while. It’s taxing on you as a person to schedule your life around that,” Monique explains. “Some of the middle-class families have generators but even those don't run all the time as it's far too expensive.”