Children in the war zones & trauma
When I think of trauma, I think of an isolated incident (or discrete period of time) that impacts a person. However, for some people, it is their environment and childhood. For children growing up in war zones, every day is filled with traumatic events, and they witness things that most people do not have to witness in their lifetime. The fact that they go through these experiences at such a young age is very difficult for me to wrap my mind around, and thus, in my post, I will explore more specifically children in Syria that have trauma and a couple of programs that are in place to try to help them.
Natasha Ghoneim writes about a 10-year-old girl from Syria named Noor (Ghoneim, 2017). Noor witnessed her father be murdered by ISIS. After this, she and her mother and sisters fled to Turkey for safety. She had lived her life surrounded by death and war, and needless to say, everything has had an enormous impact on her. Ghoneim writes, “We were warned not to ask Noor about the family’s horrific encounter with ISIL, as recalling the memory for anyone, let alone a child, is traumatic.” Noor struggles with PTSD and has nightmares and depression. At the time this article was written, Noor was at the Al Sham Association in Gaziantep, Turkey. This association gives fatherless children and their mothers safety and shelter, as well as education and recreational programs. However, due to lack of funding, they cannot afford long-term psychologists to help the children, so most of the the help comes from un-professionally trained staff that work at the organization. This is clearly not enough for the children, as the staff estimate that 40% of the children there need long-term, professional mental-health care.
As there is a shortage of funding and mental health resources available to children like Noor- what kinds of other programs are in place to help? In Lebanon, art therapy has become a popular way to help children cope with their trauma (Stoughton, 2017). A certified art therapist, Dania Fawaz, who works in Lebanon explains the benefits of art therapy, saying, “A lot of children, especially the younger ones, haven’t developed the verbal skills they need to describe such horrific events, especially if you’re speaking about war. Art is a less directive and more natural tool for children to express themselves.” (Stoughton, 2017). Through their art, children can work through their emotions and past in whatever way is helpful for them and at their own pace, whether it be through anger and frustration, sadness, confusion, or whatever emotions and feelings they have in a safe environment. Mona Shibaru is a volunteer for a similar organization called “The Red Pencil” who describes the work and goals they do, “We try to build some kind of resiliency that will stay with them even after the group finishes … We focus a lot on the power of imagination, because imagination and memories are things that no one can take away from you. No matter what happens, no matter where you move, you can still dream and imagine and envision.” (Stoughton, 2017).
Another program in place is “Project Lift”. Project Lift holds a workshop for 5 days a month for Syrian children that combines performance and visual art therapy (Ergil, 2016). Through art, music, and dance, the program focuses on rehabilitation and resilience both for the present and future. The chief advisor of the program, as well as art therapist, Leyla Akça, describes their approach as helping the children build a “toolbox, which they can take with them and reuse these skills when they face hardships in their lives” (Ergil, 2016).
References
Ergil, L. Y. (2016, January 04). Project Lift: Trauma therapy for Syrian children. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2016/01/05/project-lift-trauma-therapy-for-syrian-children
Ghoneim, N. (2017, March 08). Searching for a light: Syrian children struggle with trauma. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2017/03/searching-light-syrian-children-struggle-trauma-170308102939423.html
Stoughton, I. (2017, March 04). Syrian refugee children process trauma through art. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/syrian-refugee-children-process-trauma-art-170114100012150.html