I often treat children who are psychologically affected by the war.

Children don’t understand what fighter jets are, or recognise the sound they make.


They know aeroplanes as a means of travel.


But they don't understand the concept of dropping bombs and hurting children.


They don't make the association between the sound of a jet and danger.


They don't know they have to take cover.


Or that they will witness devastation, dust, odours, pollution


and toxic dust.


Many of the children who come to our clinic are in shock

and are dealing with some sort of trauma.

Based on my medical background, I know that these children will carry this trauma with them well into the future.

It will have an impact, because they have seen their homes being destroyed,

their relatives and family members killed in front of their eyes.

Some children see houses being demolished over the heads of their owners as they flee.

Sometimes they ask, "What happened to them? Where did my family go?"

These children have a right to education,

to play, to be mischievous… but now they are confined to displacement shelters.


[00:02:08] These shelters are not the same environment as a child's home.


[00:02:14] Familiar things like their mattress and bed, bathroom or garden are all missing.


[00:02:20] In the shelters, we often see parents who are stressed out,


[00:02:25] which is why they might tell their children to stop playing and to stay quiet.


[00:02:30] When parents are under psychological pressure


[00:02:32] children absorb their stress and experience the same reality.


[00:02:37] This can have serious implications for their mental health in the future.