9 year-old Mohamd is living in Abu Chok camp on the edge of Al Fasher town in North Darfur. His family come from the town of Tawilla. He was interviewed as he came to collect water from the pump and water tank Save the Children has installed in the camp.

“There was fighting going on all around home. Many times the Janjaweed would come into town and destroy some houses. We were very frightened and set off for Fasher where we might be protected.

“My father has gone to Khartoum as it is not safe for men to stay here. My mother and elder sister returned to Tawilla a few days ago, hoping to plant some crops and salvage our home. I have stayed behind with my aunt and her family, as it may not yet be safe in Tawilla and this way we remain registered in this camp.

“Life is very hard here. There was a big illness that befell the camp [measles] and many died, now people are having injections. I like the water pump as it means that we can have plenty of good clean water, fetching the water is one of the things I do to fill my day, I really enjoy getting to work the pump.”

In Sudan, Save the Children is distributing food and relief items, running mobile health clinics, working with children who have become separated from their families, supporting children’s educational needs, providing safe play areas for children and training volunteers in child protection.

Afghanistan

12 year-old Juma lives at Zahre Dasht, a camp for internal refugees, 40km west of Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan. The camp is home to about 40,000 people.

“My mother and father are dead. My father died 12 years ago when I was a baby. He was killed fighting the Russians. My mother died six years ago from a chest infection. I live here with my grandmother. My older brother went to Pakistan to earn money for us as a labourer. He is 14.

“We left Faryab [a province in northern Afghanistan] when the Taliban lost power in the north. People threatened us. So we left our villages to find a safe place. It was horrible when we had to leave because we were afraid. We were children, and there was bombing, and we saw the planes coming. I was too afraid to cry.

“Our schoolrooms are tents, and in winter it’s very cold. We sit shivering in class, we sit so close to each other, that if a child is sick, he spreads it to the others. School is OK, but we only have 10 teachers. In my class we have 48 pupils. But in other classes, there are 70 or 80 children. The girls only have two classes. In one class there are 80 girls. In the other there are 120.

“The distribution of kerosene has now stopped, and so families send their boys to collect firewood from the mountain. This stops them from going to school, because if they leave at six o’clock in the morning, they don’t return until two. Water is the other big problem, because the supply is limited and it takes a long time to fetch it. During playtime after school we are always told to fetch water.”

In camps like Zahre Dasht, Save the Children has set up education workshops, where children can discuss their problems and work with camp authorities to improve things. In the cities, Save the Children is helping to improve health services and to protect and educate children working on the streets.

Iraq

Sabrin is 11 years old and lives in Abo Al Kasib, Basra. Sabrin has five sisters and two brothers. They all stayed together with their mother and father in Basra throughout the war in 2003.

“I heard bombs exploding around our home and was afraid. One of my brothers, Amar, was outside when one of the bombs hit. He survived, but he has had many operations, and lost his arm. My brother is very angry about the war and doesn’t like foreigners. He doesn’t smile much.

“My father is not working because he is old and my mother stays at home to look after my younger sisters. Because there is no one else to work, two of my older brothers [aged 12 and 15] do jobs like carrying boxes, unloading trucks or running errands. They are trying to make some money for the family and do not go to school. Sometimes the boys bring home meat and fish.

“I don’t play much outside because my family is afraid of landmines. At school we learn a lot about how to keep safe from landmines and not to pick up interesting looking objects. I want to be a primary school teacher when I grow up.”

In Iraq, Save the Children is re-equipping primary schools, training teachers, constructing safe play areas and providing medical supplies to 17 health facilities.