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From Bombs to Bread | Aala El-Khani | TEDxManchester

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    Good Morning
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    Worldwide, over 1.5 billion people experience un conflict
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    In response, people are forced to flee their country.
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    leaving over 15 million refugees.
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    children without a doubt are
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    the most innocent and vulnerable victims
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    but not just from the obvious physical dangers,
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    but from, the often, unspoken affects that wars have on their families.
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    The experiences of war leave children at real high risk
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    for the development of emotional and behavioural problems.
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    children as we can only imagine,
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    will feel worried, threaten and at risk.
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    but there is good news.
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    The Quality of care that children recieve
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    in their families, can have a more significant effects
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    on their well-being, than from
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    the actual experiences of war that they have been exposed to.
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    So actually, children can be protected
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    by warm, secure parenting.
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    during and after conflict.
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    In 2011, I was a first year PHD Student
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    in the University Of Manchester
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    School Of Physiological Sciences.
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    Like many of you here, I watched the crisis in Syria
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    unfold in front of me on the Tv.
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    My family are originally from Syria, and very early on
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    I lost several family members in really horrifying ways.
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    I sit and I gathered with my family to watch the Tv.
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    So we have all seen those scenes,
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    barns destroying, buildings, chaos, destruction.
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    and people screaming and running.
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    it was always the people screaming and running
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    that really got me the most.
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    Specially those terrified looking children.
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    I was a mother to two young, typically inquisitive children.
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    They were five and six then.
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    At an age when they typically ask lots and lots of questions
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    and expect real convincing answers.
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    So I began to wonder what it might be like
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    to parent my children in a war-zone and a refugee camp.
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    Would my children change?
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    Would my daughter's bright happy eyes lose their shine?
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    would my sons' really relax care-free nature
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    become fearful and withdrawn?
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    How would I cope?
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    Would I change?
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    As psychologists and parent's trainers
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    we know that arming parents
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    with skills and caring for their children
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    can have a huge effect on their well-being.
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    We call this Parents Training.
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    So the questions I had
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    was could Parent Training programs be useful for families
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    while they're still in war-zones or refugee camps?
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    Could we reach them with advise or training
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    that would help them through the struggles?
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    So, I approached my PHD supervisor,
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    professor Rachel Calam,
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    with my idea of using my academic skills
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    to make some changes in the real world.
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    I wasn't quite sure, exactly, what I wanted to do.
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    She listened carefully and patiently,
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    And to my joy, she said:
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    "If that is what you want to do,
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    and it means so much to you, Let's do it.
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    Let's find ways to see if parent programs can be useful
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    for families in this contexts."
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    So for the past five years myself and my colleagues,
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    professor Calam and Dr. Kim Cartwright
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    have been working on ways to support families
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    that have experienced war and displacement.
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    Now, to know how to help families that have been
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    through conflict, support their children,
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    the first step must obviously be
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    to ask them what are they struggling with. Right?
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    I mean, it seems obvious,
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    but often those are the most vulnerable
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    that we are trying to support that we actually don't ask.
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    How many times have we just assumed
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    we know exactly the right thing that is gonna help
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    someone or something without actually asking
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    them first.
Title:
From Bombs to Bread | Aala El-Khani | TEDxManchester
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TEDxTalks
Duration:
14:20

English subtitles

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