Dar es Salaam, an eye to camp in the arid landscape of northern Lake Chad. A tent city built hastily to accommodate all those who fled the madness of Boko Haram since the massacre Baga in neighboring Nigeria, in January. More than 15,000 Nigerians have fled to the other side of the lake. Summary executions, beheadings, bruûlées homes, fleeing the massacres, they gave up everything. Among them, many children only.
"There are some who have seen their parents die, others have seen their parents go without them, there are some who have seen other children die beside them, who narrowly escaped execution , and everything, but at that age fortunately we forget things very quickly ... But they each have a particular history, "said Idriss, the camp manager, who has often left himself these children of chaos , by getting them on the islands of the lake where they were hiding. Small refugees living but traumatized.
"In a decade, Boko Haram has killed and abducted thousands of civilians. Tens of thousands of people fled Nigeria and the organization that employs terror and extreme cruelty as a weapon. And in addition to having lost everything, refugees suffer most profound psychological trauma "reports our special correspondent.
Sanitation, drinking water and food are the priority. And of course, medical aid provided by Doctors Without Borders, which has provided emergency kits for about 1 000 people. But the physical wounds heal more easily than traumatic shocks.
"Many people, many refugees have witnessed the death of their loved ones with extreme violence. And once arrived in Chad, in Dar es Salaam camp, these people are not only weakened from a physical point of view because the crossing of the lake is very complicated, but also from a psychological point of view " says Stephanie Giandonato, Doctors Without Borders.
Improvised classes for 700 children. The program is the same for everyone, regardless of age: first grade. And the lessons are in French, so that these small Nigerians speak English in their home schools.
Will they forget the sound of Kalashnikov heard in their flight?
For now, the Dar es Salaam camp is their only home, who knows for how long.
No comments:
Post a Comment