Save a life in 15 seconds

Sderot is a small town in the northwestern part of the Negev Desert in Israel. Its residents cannot sleep peacefully at night - the town is under constant rocket fire from Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In order to make the reality around them “more normal”, the inhabitants of Sderot began to paint the gloomy bomb shelters. By making gray concrete blocks colorful and pleasing to the eye, they are trying to vent their emotions - to defuse the constant tension in which they live 24 hours a day. Bombing can start at any minute, catch anywhere and they only have 15 seconds to take cover in the shelter themselves and protect their children.

See how unsightly concrete blocks turned into fun structures.
10 PHOTOS

1. "Funny" bomb shelter on the playground.

Sderot separates from the Gaza Strip only a kilometer. This makes the city an easy target for Palestinian militants. No other Israeli city was shelled so often. Since 2001, more than 8,600 rockets have been fired in the direction of Sderot. Since June 2005, 10 people have been killed in shootings and dozens have been injured.

2. Colored bomb shelter in the schoolyard.

The most intense shelling of the town began after Israel attacked the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009. Operation Cast Lead, which aimed to kill Hamas members and destroy Hamas infrastructure, triggered massive retaliatory shelling by the Palestinians.

3. Roadside bomb shelter.

The Iron Dome, Israel's missile defense system, is unable to 100 percent protect the people of Sderot. When an alarm or “code red” is announced through loudspeakers throughout the city, 25,000 residents have only 15 seconds to hide in a bomb shelter. “It’s hard to explain to someone or understand how it is when you only have 15 seconds to save your life,” says the director of the local press center.

4. Constant danger affects the daily lives of citizens: they do not fasten their seat belts to get out of the car as quickly as possible, and all roads in the city are dotted with missile defense shelters. More than half of the inhabitants of Sderot are repatriates from the CIS.

5. In 2009-2013, the Israeli government allocated about $150 million for the construction of shelters. And although bomb shelters were built to save lives, for residents they are like an eyesore.

6. To change the dull urban landscape, local artists decided to paint the bomb shelters. Some of them appeared graffiti, others idyllic landscapes, and many were simply painted in eye-catching bright colors.

7. "Colored bomb shelters have made our crazy everyday life a little more normal," said the people of Sderot.

8. Living in an atmosphere of constant fear has its consequences. Most residents, especially children, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, like soldiers who have been in war or people who have survived terrible disasters.

9. The Sderot authorities allocate a lot of funds to create various art, literature, and other creative courses so that the residents participating in them can get rid of tension and negative emotions.

10. By expressing themselves through art, citizens heal their souls. This helps them cope with the difficult situation they find themselves in. If they did not find an outlet for their emotions, but would suppress them in themselves, this would not only affect their health but also make their life unbearable.