Art by Lina Safar
Comfort For Kids is a project by Mercy Corps to help children recover from psychological trauma following major disasters. The methodology has previously been used by them following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, wars in Gaza and Libya, and earthquakes in Peru, China, Haiti, Chile and Japan. Now that Mercy Corps are working with Syrian refugee children in Jordan and Lebanon, they’ve worked with illustrator Lina Safar to produce tailor-made children’s workbooks, as well as illustrated manuals for adults working with the children.
Read what Lina Safar has to say about the project on her website. There’s also a version on the Mercy Corps site.
AP has a story on the project, Syrian-born artist now helps child war refugees, by Tamara Lush. Below is a video to go with the story.
Mercy Corps was recently forced to close its aid operation in Damascus when the Assad regime demanded it stop cross-border aid shipments to areas outside regime control.
From The Guardian: Aid group Mercy Corps forced to close Damascus operations, by Martin Chulov and Emma Beals.
Mercy Corps statement: Closure of Mercy Corps’ humanitarian aid operations in Damascus.
See also this story at Syria Deeply: Underfunded Aid Organizations Battle Donor Fatigue, Revise Delivery Plans.
Katarina Montgomery and Karen Leigh talk to Cassandra Nelson, a director at Mercy Corps; Andy Baker, regional program manager, Syria Crisis at Oxfam; and Juliette Touma, regional spokeswoman at Unicef.
More at Mercy Corps, and Mercy Corps UK.
Mercy Corps Facebook page.
Mercy Corps on Twitter: @mercycorps and @mercycorps_uk.
