Duhok, KURDISTAN (November 19th, 2017) - Rwanga Foundation in partnership with Act Now Children’s Fund held a graduation ceremony to end the Children of Peace project.
Funded by the Act Now Children’s Fund, Rwanga Foundation implemented the Children of Peace project on June 1st, 2017 to November 19th, 2017. The project targeted the 100 Yazidi IDP children and adolescents (aged 4 to 17), who were rescued from the ISIS captivity and are currently living in the Rwanga Community, Qadiya-Duhok.
The aim of the project was to provide support through psycho social counseling by giving music and art courses to the traumatized children and those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The event was attended by Mr. Abdulsalam Medeni, Chief Executive Director of Rwanga Foundation, representatives from the Duhok Governorate and officials.
“I was noticing during the implementation of the project, that the children were very happy and excited to learn Music (Playing Different Musical Instruments). Thus, this could be a good indicator that music has impacted their psychology and made them to forget the sad moments that they have spent!” said Kawar Sadiq Saeed, project coordinator.
During the graduation ceremony, the kids displayed their works and performed music that they learned through the project. One of the kids told his story about what happened to him and all the tragedy he had been through with his family, saying that :“ The drawing course helped me to express my pain, because I was able to talk about my story through drawing. It was also the music which helped me to relax!'' Moreover, during the ceremony certificates were given to those volunteers who helped the project.
According to the reports provided by the human rights NGOs and media, around 600 children were captured by ISIS and 400 of them had been trained to be used, or perhaps already used, as suicide bombers. However, it is also worth to mention that around 200 Yazidi children escaped the ISIS captivity.
