Transforming humanitarian action

The children of Syria never stop showing resilience but seven years of brutal conflict has left many with deep psychological scars.  The Independent Doctors Association who run Hope Hospital for children (which was funded by the People's Convoy campaign) see the strain of war reflected through their young patients’ behaviour. They are frightened, nervous, depressed, and understandably at times — angry. 

The doctors and nurses can help children recover physically, but they need the support of the global community to help relieve the mental trauma.  

Meeting conflict with compassion: the Teaching Recovery Techniques programme 

The team at Hope Hospital have a solution; they want to implement the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) programme which has been developed by the Children of War Foundation. It’s an evidence-based programme that teaches coping strategies, to help young people deal with the psychological aftermath of war.
It will transform lives by:

• Promoting positive memories in place of traumatic thoughts 
• Teaching coping strategies to overcome fear 
• Providing a safe space for children to express themselves
• Increasing hope, happiness and self-confidence 

We aim to help as many children as possible

The programme will evolve over two phases. First of all, ten community healthcare workers will be trained remotely to teach recovery techniques to children between the ages of 8 and 18. After the online training course is complete they’ll run the programme over two, two-month cycles, impacting a total of two hundred children.  

The programme will also work with parents or caregivers, to teach them how to cope with their child’s behaviour, empowering another 400 people in the local community.

A track record for tackling trauma

The TRT programme has a history of helping children cope with the harsh realities of war. It proved extremely effective in Bosnia during 1998, encouraging psychologists  to repeat it across the world in different places like Vietnam, Uganda, Iraq and Palestine, it has also reached displaced Syrians in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

One particular report explained how it helped a 12-year-old picture positive memories of her uncle, rather than recalling graphic images of his death.   

There’s no support like this for children in North Syria

The team at Hope Hospital hear many heartbreaking stories from the children they care for. Young boys and girls recall violent scenes of shelling and destruction, the frightening effects of being displaced multiple times, even more devastatingly — witnessing their parents being killed. The TRT programme is vital because this will be the first time it will be run in North Aleppo (an area heavily affected by displacement).  

You’ll be supporting children like Azeezah

Azeezah’s father died during shelling, she was forced to leave her home, and moved with her family to a camp in North Aleppo. 

“Azeezah now wants to keep all of her stuff close to her wherever she goes, she refuses to share anything since she fears that she may lose it, as she lost her father,” Azeezah’s mother explains. 

With the TRT programme in place we can help Azeezah and children like her who are suffering from psychological disorders, before it impacts their overall health and wellbeing.  

Let’s start making a difference 

It’s crazy to think that for less than £15,000 we can ease the psychological suffering and give hope to two hundred children and their parents. 

Every donation makes an impact. Support this campaign today to help provide North Aleppo’s children with the tools they need for psychological recovery. Thank you!

Learn more about IDA.

#HealWithHope

Impact

£ 25 would cover trauma recovery treatment for 1 child and their parents for 1 month

Why crowdfunding?

As an organisation we do not have any other access to direct funding. Crowdfunding is incredibly important for us in order to raise money quickly for essential health projects. Because of this lack of direct funding, if we do not reach our fundraising target the project cannot go ahead – we simply do not have any other method to ‘top-up’ the budget required. 

For more info on this - please see CanDo’s FAQs ‘What is all-or-nothing crowdfunding?’ and ‘What happens if a campaign doesn’t reach its target?’