In early 2011, peaceful protests met with violent counterattacks spurred what would be a six-year-long civil war in Syria. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have been killed and over half of the population of Syria have been displaced from their homes. Since the war began, 5 million refugees have fled to other countries and 6 million have been displaced within their own country. Amid the chaos, the Syrian children's fight against psychological trauma is one of the toughest battles being fought.
In remembrance of the sixth anniversary of the Syrian conflict, Save the Children Foundation teamed up with photographer Nick Ballon and Animator Alma Haser for a creative project. The photo
and video series is a look into the minds of six Syrian children and explores the physical, mental and emotional depths of their struggles.
Razan is a seven-year-old girl who suffers from severe hallucinations that make it difficult for her to differentiate fiction from reality. In her video, Razan does not speak but instead a narrator tells Razan’s story while she stands still with a sullen look on her face, with pages of paper ripping from her picture to illustrate a girl who is being ripped from her own mind.
Haser, a 9-year-old boy, tells his own story. In his video, his back is to the camera to represent when he witnessed his father being shot in the back of the head during a raid on his home. Hassan suffers from nightmares and severe body tremors. His video features a shaking and crumbling effect to illustrate Hassan’s tremors and anger.
Ballon and Haser used different techniques to convey the story of each child. It was important to keep the children's individual experiences at the heart of the project," Haser said. "Throughout, I wanted the artwork to empower and bring to life, rather than take away.
Check out the rest of the children’s stories on the Save the Children Foundation USA’s YouTube channel!