�鶹APP

For the past two weeks, Sandy has slept on the dirty floor of a small and stuffy tent, squeezed in tightly with 54 other women and girls and countless night-biting mosquitoes.

Things are looking up. For now at least, Sandy has company and a canvas cover.

�鶹APP�I feel much safer here in the tent,�鶹APP� she said of her new home in a United Nations-protected site.

Education in South Sudan

• 72% of children are out of school at primary level – the highest rate in the world
• 76% of school-age girls are not in education
• One in three schools have been attacked by armed forces

With her buzzed haircut and mature mien, 14-year-old Sandy is stern faced and slow to smile. She is recovering from war trauma.

It all began in 2013 when she had to flee an attack on her village that left her father dead. Her mother died soon afterwards of disease, hunger and exhaustion.

Ever since, after making the 100-mile trek from Yei in the country�鶹APP�s west to the capital Juba – alone and afraid throughout – Sandy has been sleeping under market stalls, exposed to the elements and in danger of assault.

Many of the other girls who slept under makeshift stalls ended up in brothels. Sandy was lucky enough to make it to the relative safety of one of Juba�鶹APP�s protected civilian sites (PoCs).

The UN children’s arm UNICEF estimates that she is one of 900,000 children in South Sudan who need psychological help, with at least 150,000 of them living in camps.

These are children who have witnessed killings, abductions and sexual violence since South Sudan plunged into civil war in 2013 – but there are few experts to guide their recovery in what is the world’s youngest country.

�鶹APP�South Sudan has a generation of traumatised children but there aren�鶹APP�t enough therapists �鶹APP� neither in Juba, nor in remote local communities,�鶹APP� explained Duop Dak, one of the country�鶹APP�s few practising South Sudanese psychologists.

�鶹APP�Capacity here is low. There are no rehabilitation centres and people who develop mental disorders due to trauma can end up in prison,�鶹APP� he added.

It is just six years since South Sudan gained independence, though it has yet to win either peace or stability.

Many of Dak’s colleagues have left the world of counselling to work with non-profits or the government, both of which offer better salaries and more hope in the face of the country’s rampant hyperinflation, fuel shortages and harsh beginnings.

Instead, a growing number of international organisations have taken to working with the traumatised children, hoping to prevent further repercussions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or worse.

�鶹APP�During and after displacement, children go through extraordinary experiences that can traumatise them for the rest of their lives. Our work focuses on bringing their lives back to normalcy as quickly as possible,�鶹APP� said the UNHCR�鶹APP�s protections officer Keiko Odashiro, who works with girls like Sandy.

Sandy took her first, faltering step towards healing when she registered at a child-friendly space in the camp, where she can play with her peers and get adult support.

�鶹APP�Traumatised children need to participate in activities that keep them busy and engaged,�鶹APP� explained Dak. �鶹APP�Positive reinforcement and play are crucial and it�鶹APP�s often then that trauma patients open up about their past.�鶹APP�

Dak has seen children craft soldier dolls out of sticks and draw machine guns in the sand.

�鶹APP�It�鶹APP�s usually then that I ask about their past and what has triggered their drawings,�鶹APP� Dak told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

He thinks safe spaces such as this �鶹APP� classrooms, a playground and a clutch of social workers and psychologists – are the best springboard to mental health for South Sudan�鶹APP�s youngest war victims.

�鶹APP�It�鶹APP�s here where we identify vulnerable children and provide direct support to them. We take them in, integrate them into the group and explore their fears and past lives,�鶹APP� says Alice Abdallah of UNICEF, who sets up the safe havens.

With the country�鶹APP�s peace agreement in limbo and violence continuing, children experience trauma on a daily basis.

Up to 100 unaccompanied minors �鶹APP� most don�鶹APP�t know if their parents are still alive �鶹APP� cross the border into Uganda daily.

�鶹APP�These children need to gain resilience to survive, build confidence and restore hope for their brighter futures,�鶹APP� Odashiro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Trauma is common in South Sudan and for a number of reasons.

Just an hour�鶹APP�s drive from Sandy, in another UN camp of mud huts, sits five-year-old Dekanmo, a refugee from Ethiopia whose family fled ethnic cleansing in the country�鶹APP�s Gambella region.

A month ago, her mother �鶹APP� and sole surviving relative �鶹APP� died in childbirth and Dekanmo has not spoken since.

Surrounded by playing children, she sits on the floor in her school uniform, her dark, hollow eyes fixed on the distance.

“We ensure that her basic needs – such as shelter, health and food – are met, and facilitate counselling for her growth and development,” explained Odashiro.

As to a future, Dekanmo’s road to recovery has yet to begin.