In any war or conflict, it is the children who are the most vulnerable and devastated. Children are the largest and fastest growing number of victims in the Syrian conflict, and women are the 2nd. We are working to heal a whole generation of Syrian children from the deep and life draining trauma of violence and rebuild devastated families. Our Social Health Care Program conducts disaster health care field clinics and trains a growing pool of local therapists in emergency trauma recovery skills.
Currently 6 million+ Syrians are displaced outside of Syria. Over 1/2 of these refugees are children, with most under the age of 11. Women are the 2nd largest group. Many children are severely traumatized with symptoms of depression, withdrawl, regression, chronic anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares, and obsessive, compulsive, and reactive behaviors. Services are severely lacking or nonexistent. Trauma due to war and violence is often ignored, and if left untreated become fuel for future violence
SHC provides critical treatment to traumatized children and their families, while training a large and growing pool of local trauma therapists to continue and sustain this life saving service. With this vital local capacity program, we can increasingly treat thousands of victims to heal the devastating emotional and physical impact of war and violence now, and prevent an entire generation from carrying the toxic, debilitating consequences into their future, and the future of the Middle East.
SHC provides critically needed, immediate disaster health care services to the most vulnerable victims, while building effective local capacity to continue healing from the trauma of war and displacement. Through training large numbers in proven and culturally adapted professional treatment skills, it contributes to the development of the local human service system that is expanding, sustainable, and reflective of the host culture, and in doing so empowers and promotes communal healing.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
