Trauma Counseling for Child Survivors of War

Dear Friends,

We are continually encouraged by your kindness, compassion and generosity towards children.  Uganda is currently hosting over 900,000 child refugees.  Each one has a story of survival.  Each one is incredibly brave in our eyes.  What they have faced, how they have endured and how they continue to battle for their future is inspiring. 

In the midst of their incredible resilience, they have emotional and mental health needs that urgently need our care and your support.  The counseling team at I Live Again Uganda listens to their stories of war, what they have witnessed and what they are currently facing living in the refugee settlement.  Crossing the border into Uganda does alleviate the stresses of war and conflict physically, but life in the refugee settlement is another battle.  Not only are children navigating their emotions of what they faced before fleeing their homes and along the journey to safety in Uganda, but they also have more battles ahead.  Many children crossed the border unaccompanied.  Some children wonder if their family members made it out alive or are in other refugee settlements.  The UNHCR works hard to locate family members but at times, its not possible.  The uncertainty of knowing if family members are alive or not can leave children feeling anxious and unsettled. 

The Empower Kids Program is our counseling program.  With your generosity and compassion, our team is able to meet with children who have survived war and are living in the refugee settlement in northern Uganda.  We give children safe ways to express their past, their present and hope for the future.  One of the ways we do this is through art therapy.  Our team moves throughout the refugee settlement to meet children.  They don't have tables to sit at, but each one is always excited to have a few coloured pencils and paper to draw and show off their artistic skills.  Attached you will see some photos from the refugee settlement were some of the children were taking time to draw images of their family members. 

We hope that you will continue to stand with children who have survived the unimaginable through your encouragement and giving.  We are so grateful for your support.

The Founder of I Live Again Uganda said, "The silence of guns is not the absence of war."  We often assume that when the physical battle has stopped in a conflict, everything and everyone can quickly return to the way things were before the beginning of the conflict.  We know that this is not true.

In a study completed last year by the UNCHR, contributing factors of mental health challenges among refugee children are related to exposure to war, violence within families and households and the mental health state of their parents.  For the refugee children who came to Uganda without parents, the study showed that these children had higher rates of depression, behavioural challenges and suicide attempts (UNCHR 2023).

The war of South Sudanese refugees has moved from a physical state into their minds.  This is why we exist.  This is why I Live Again Uganda is in the refugee settlements in Uganda.  This is why your partnership matters.  We dream of a world where everyone has healing, hope and identity.  This includes refugees from South Sudan.

For 13-year-old Sharon who has been attending our Empower Kids Trauma Counseling Program, she has seen great change in her own life.  She lives with her Aunt in the refugee settlement after losing both of her parents.  "I felt so alone in my home.  I felt like no one wanted me. As I've come to the children's program, I've learnt that it's not good for me to think for too long about the past.  We come and play games and talk together.  It has helped me so much. I am getting along so much better with my cousins and my Aunt.  My cousins are also here too.  We are all playing together now and I'm not feeling as sad as I was before."

We are grateful for every gift and sacrifice made to make sure children like Sharon receives healing, renewed hope and knows her purpose-filled identity.  With your continued compassion and generosity, we can help children like Sharon fight the hidden war of depression, anxiety and emotional challenges.  Thank you for changing the story of survivors of war. 

"Culture, Context and Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-Being of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons From South Sudan" (UNCHR 2023)