The psycho-social relief centre of SOS Children's Villages at Abu…

The psycho-social relief centre of SOS Children's Villages at Abu Shok refugee camp in Al Fashir, Darfur.

This is the story of 14-year-old Farida who has experienced terrible effects of war and later on received treatment at the psycho-social relief centre Abu Shok refugee camp in Al Fashir, Darfur. The story was told by Rasha, the psychologist who treated Farida.

In order to protect her privacy, the girl's name was changed and no photos depicting her are used.

Many of the children who come to the psycho-social relief centre have experienced violence first-hand and suffer from recurring nightmares years after. These children, most often, have trouble expressing their feelings in words.

Farida's first memories were her fondest. She grew up on a small farm in Tawila, a tiny village in Darfur, with her parents and brothers and sisters. War was something she heard about, but always as something distant and far away.

All of this changed suddenly. One day, as Farida narrated her story, the Janjaweed (a group of Arab militiamen) stormed their small peaceful village. Homes were burned, farms destroyed, and livestock killed. What was worse than all that is that they killed many men in front of their families. Some fortunate families managed to escape unharmed. Farida was not so fortunate.

"When she first came to the centre, she had constant tension headaches and frequent nightmares. She also showed symptoms of depression, and post-traumatic stress," Rasha, one of the psychologists at the psycho-social relief centre recalls. "At first I did not ask her any direct questions about her experiences, but asked her to draw, make clay figures and other forms of expression."

"Gradually I got her to play this game, sort of like a puppet show, but only with one puppet. She then started telling her story to the puppet," Rasha explains.

When the Janjaweed attacked their village, Farida was kidnapped by a group of soldiers, along with a number of other adolescent girls. Most of the girls were raped by the soldiers. Eventually some of them were let go, to travel long terrible distances on foot until they found their own families. Farida was released and joined others from her village who rode in a truck to Al Fashir.

There she was reunited with her mother and siblings. Together they moved to Abu Shok refugee camp where they built a tiny mud-hut for themselves. However, Farida's nightmares did not stop. She had frequent bouts of crying, she was terrified of men in general and especially lighter-skinned men, who reminded her of the Janjaweed soldiers.

Farida's progress was slow, but eventually she started to adjust better to life in the refugee camp. The relative peace and security of the camp helped reduce her panic and the day to day activities she pursued helped keep her busy so that she would not constantly recall the traumatic events of the past.

"She is still receiving help, but at least now she has gone back to school and she feels there are people she can trust and speak to, who are there to help her," Rasha says about her now 14-year-old patient. "Generally speaking, the children who come here have been through experiences that remain with them for the rest of their lives, we can only help them accept these experiences and adjust to a new life."