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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 armed 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 receive
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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 sat and I gathered with my family
    and watched the TV.
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    So we have all seen those scenes,
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    bombs 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 son's 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
    advice or training
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    that would help them through
    these struggles?
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    So, I approached my PHD supervisor,
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    professor Rachel Calam,
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    with the 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 then 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, then
    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 someone or something
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    without actually asking them first.
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    So i travelled to the refugee camps
    in Syria and in Turkey.
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    And I sat with families and I listened.
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    I listened to the parenting challenges
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    I listened to the parenting struggles
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    And I listened to their call for help
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    And sometimes that was
    just paused
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    as all I could was hold hand
    with them and just join them
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    in silence crying and prayer
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    So they told me about their struggles
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    They told me about the rough,
    harsh refugee camp condition
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    That made it hard to focus on
    anything but practical chores
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    like collecting clean water.
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    He told me how they watch their
    children withdrawn,
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    the sadness, depression, anger
    bed-wetting, thumb sucking
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    fear of loud noises, fear of nightmares,
    terrifying terrifying nightmares.
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    These families had been through
    what we had been watching on the TV.
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    The mothers almost half of them were
    now wisdom of the war
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    or didn't even know their husbands
    were dead or alive,
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    described how they thought they
    were coping so badly
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    They watched their children change
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    and they had no idea
    how to help them.
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    They didn't know how to answer
    their children's questions.
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    Why I found incredibly
    astonishing and so motivational
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    was that these families was so
    motivated to support their children
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    Despite all these challenges they faced
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    they were trying to help their children
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    they were making attempts at seeking
    support from NGO workers
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    from refugee camp teachers,
    professional medics, other parents.
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    One mother I met had only been
    account for 4 days
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    and had already made two attempts
    at seeking support
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    for her eight -year-old daughter
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    who was having terrifying nightmares.
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    But sadly, these attempts are
    almost always useless.
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    Refugee camp doctors when available
    are almost always too busy or
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    don't have the knowledge all
    the time for basic parenting supports.
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    Refugee camp teachers and other
    parents are just like them
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    part of a new refugee community
    who's struggling with units
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    So then we began to think
    how could we help these families.
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    The families were struggling with things
    much bigger than they could cope with.
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    The Syrian crisis made it clear how
    incredibly impossible it would be
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    to reach families on an individual level.
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    How else could we help them.
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    How would we reach families
    at a population level and low-cost
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    in these terrifying terrifying times.
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    After hours of speaking to NGO workers
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    one suggested a fantastic innovative
    idea of distributing
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    parenting information leaflets
    by a bread wrappers.
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    Bread wrappers that were being
    delivered to families
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    in a conflict zone in Syria
    by humanitarian workers
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    So that's what we did
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    The bread wrappers haven't changed
    at all in their apperance
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    except for the addition of two pieces
    of paper.
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    One was a parenting information leaflet
    that had basic advice
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    and information that normalizes
    the parent
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    what they might be experiencing
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    and what their child
    might be experiencing
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    and information on how they
    could support themselves
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    and their children
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    such as information like spending time
    talking to a child
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    showing them more affection
    being more patient with your child
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    talking to your children.
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    The other piece of paper
    was a feedback questionnaire
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    and of course there was a pen.
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    So is this simply leaflet distribution
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    or is it actually possible means of
    delivering psychological first aid
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    that provides warm secure
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    loving parenting.
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    We managed to distribute 3000 of these
    in just one week.
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    was incredible was we had
    60-percent response rate
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    Sixty-percent of the three thousand
    families responded.
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    I didn't know how many reasearches
    we have here today
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    but that kind of response rate
    is fantastic
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    to have this in Manchester
    would be a huge achivement
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    Let alone in a conflict zone in Syria
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    really highlighting how important
    these kind of messages work to families.
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    I remember how excited
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    and eager we were
    for the return of the questionnaires
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    the families had left hundreds
    of messages
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    most incredibly positive encouraging.
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    My favorite has got to be
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    "Thank you for not forgetting about us
    and our children".
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    This really illustrates a potential
    means of the delivery of psychological
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    first aid to families and the return of
    feedback too.
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    Just imagine replicating this using
    other means
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    such as baby look distribution
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    or female hygiene kits
    or even food baskets
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    Let's bring this closer to home
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    because the refugee crisis is one
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    having an effect on every single one of us
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    We're bombarded with images
    daily of statistics
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    and photos
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    and that's not surprising
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    because by last month
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    over 1 million refugees
    had reached europe
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    1 million refugees are joining
    our communities
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    They're becoming our neighbors
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    their children are attending
    our children schools.
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    So we've adapted the leaflets to
    meet the needs of European refugees
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    and we have them online open access
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    and areas with a really high
    refugee influx.
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    For example, the Swedish healthcare
    uploaded it
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    onto their website
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    within the first 45 mintutes
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    it was downloaded 343 times
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    really highlighting how important it is
    for volunteers,
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    practitioners and other parents
    to have open
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    access psychological first aid messages.
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    In 2014, I was sitting on the cold
    harsh floor of a refugee camp tent
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    with mother sitting around me as
    I was conducting a focus group
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    across from East, an elderly lady
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    with what seemed to be a 13-year-old
    girl lying beside her,
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    with her head on the other ladies knees.
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    The girls stayed quiet throughout
    the focus group not talking at all
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    with her knees curled up
    against her chest.
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    Towards the end of the focus group
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    and as I was thanking the mothers
    for their time
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    the other lady looked at me while
    pointing at the young girl
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    and said to me:" Can you help us with?"
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    not quite sure what she expected
    me to do
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    I looked at the young girl and smiled,
    in Arabic I said
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    (Arabic)
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    "What is your name?"
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    She looked at me really confused
    and engaged
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    but then said:"Halluan"
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    Halluan is the best name for
    the Arabic female name Halla
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    and is only really used to refer
    to really young girls.
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    At that point, I realized that actually
    Hallo was probably much
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    older than thirteen, it turns out Halla
    was a 25-year-old mother
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    to three young children
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    Halla had been a confident bright
    bubby loving caring mother
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    to her children.
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    But the war had changed all about.
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    She had lived through bombs drop
    being dropped in her town.
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    She had lived through explosions,
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    when fighter jets were flying around
    their building dropping bombs,
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    her children would be screaming
    terrified from the noise.
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    Halla would frantically grab pillows
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    and cover her children's ears to
    block out the noise.
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    all the while screaming herself
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    When they reached the refugee camp
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    and she knew they were finally
    in some kind of safety,
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    she completely withdrew to acting
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    like her old childhood self.
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    She completely rejected her family,
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    her children, her husband.
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    Halla simply could no longer cope.
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    Now this is the parenting struggle
    with a really tough ending
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    but sadly, it is not uncommon.
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    Those, who experienced armed conflict
    and displacement
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    will face serious emotional struggles
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    and that's something we can
    all relate to.
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    If you have been through
    a devastating time in your life.
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    If you have lost someone or something
    you really care about.
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    How would you continue to cope?
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    Could you still be able to care
    for yourself and for your family?
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    Given that the first years
    of child's life are crucial
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    for healthy physical and
    emotional development.
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    And that 1.5 billion people are
    experiencing armed conflict.
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    Many of whom are now joining
    our communities.
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    We can not afford to turn a blind eye
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    to a need of those who are
    experiencing war and displacement.
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    We must prioritize these family needs
    to those both burn internally displaced
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    and those who are refugees worldwide.
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    These needs must be prioritized
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    by NGO workers, policy makers,
    the WHO, the UNHCR
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    and every single one of us
    in whatever capacity,
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    it is that we function in society.
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    When we begin to recognize the
    individual phases of the conflict.
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    When we begin to notice those
    intricate emotions on their faces,
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    we begin to see them as human too.
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    We begin to see the needs
    of these families.
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    and these are the real human needs.
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    When these families needs
    are prioritized
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    interventions for children
    in humanitarian settings
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    will prioritize and recognize the
    primary role of the family
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    in supporting children.
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    Family mental health will be
    shouting loud and clear
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    in global international agenda
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    And children will be less likely
    to enter social service systems
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    and resettlement countries
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    because their families would have
    had support earlier on
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    and we will be more open-minded
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    more welcoming, more caring
    and more trusting
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    to those who are joining
    our communities.
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    We need to stop wars.
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    We need to build a world where
    children can dream of planes
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    dropping gifts and not bombs.
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    Until we stop armed conflicts,
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    raging throughout the world, families
    will continue to be displaced
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    leaving children vulnerable
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    but by improving parenting and
    caregivers support,
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    It may be possible to weaken the links
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    between wars and
    psychological difficulties
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    in children and their families.
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    Thank you.
Title:
From Bombs to Bread | Aala El-Khani | TEDxManchester
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
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Project:
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Duration:
14:20

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