Traumatic effects of War in Sudan
By: Alaa Babiker
Photo by: Abdullah Ebrahim
Today, the suddenly occurring War in Sudan is entering day number 23, and is still in progress with no obvious hope to stop. The young Sudanese artist Abdullah Ebrahim drew this great peace of work, which he named (No War). When I saw the photo I decided to publish it along with this article, because it best describes the Psycho-Social side-effects of War in Sudan, as it directly embodies the very serious psychological traumas on the most vulnerable age group in the world, the children. And in this article I would like to shed light on this age group, reflecting how children’s minds negatively store these events, and how they will act accordingly in the future.
The War in Sudan has affected us in every single aspect of our everyday life. It occured in states that never witnessed any kind of armed conflicts before. Children in those states never saw live flghter jets before, they never heard gun shots before, and now they are suddenly seeing armed soldiers firing guns at each other in the streets. This sudden trauma has three psychological side-effects that children now face:-
1. The horror children witness everyday: the fear that enters the hearts of children at such young age is happening everyday. They wake up everyday hearing the noises of explosions, and seeing armed soldiers in the streets firing all kinds of guns. They wonder and and ask their mothers about it. Some mothers succeed to explain correctly in a way that those children would understand, but others are just as terrified as their children, they panic and lose control every time a fighter jet passes by, leaving the children in a continuous state of fear that will be stored in their long term memory.
2. The effects of war on the minds of children: on one hand, for decades children in conflict areas in Sudan (like Darfur) have been witnessing armed conflicts and triball wars, to the extent that a 15 years old child already knows how to fire a gun and he might even be a part of a local militia (which represents an abvious violation of children and human rights).
On the other hand, children from the age of 5 up to 15 years in Khartoum and other states that currently witness War for the first time, are exposed to serious psychological traumas. One day they were going to schools and having normal life activities, and the next day they are trapped in homes with no permission to go out. No activities, no games, shortage of water, electricity, and food supplies, and it happened all at once, without further notification or even a hint.
3. The displacement of children: this is the most critical area that all the Sudanese should work together to adress. International organizations are working very hard to provide the displaced families with fundamental survival materials like food, water, and medications. But what about the Psychological traumas these children will have for the rest of their lives. Families had to move to far places carrying few belongings, leaving plenty behind, and facing real survival challenges. Children need real psychological interventions as they tend to have serious psychological disorders that will destroy their lives if not treated at younger ages and at earlier stages.
This is a call to every mother who is reading this article, please explain gradually to your children what is happening, be supportive to your child, as what they are going through is far beyond their ability to process and understand. Creat home activities for your children when it is safe. Be close to them and listen to them.
And another call for the Sudanese psychologists and psychiatrists, please upload more online videos of how to take care of children during war. They are our future generations, and we don’t want them to have negative psychological traumas that will affect every aspect of their lives, we already have enough! And please pray for Sudan.