Nina - forced to flee her home

Nina is seven years old. She and her family were forced to leave their home, their lives, behind last year.

The last few hours in her home are stuck fast in Nina’s memory: “Everybody is scared shouting loudly to the other, running around. ‘Come on or we will get killed’, my father says. I am crying, saying I want my doll; that I can’t sleep without her. ‘I can’t leave my bicycle, it’s all I have’ my brother says to my father. My father answers ‘We don't have time’. My mum calls ‘We need to get the baby's bed’. But there’s no time. ‘I will put you one by one in the truck if you don’t get in now’ my father shouts.

We push one another to get in the truck. All in, the truck driver speeds away. ‘Please drive fast’ my father asks. We fall silent. The only sound is the crying and screaming from my one year old brother. Everyone looks at each other, eyes filled with tears.

Hours later Nina and her family reach their destination in south Iraq, hoping they will be safer. Only in the her first year of primary school when she had to run from her home, Nina found it hard to deal with the huge upheaval in her life, made worse by the fear felt in the home and community.

When War Child met Nina, she was withdrawn, had no friends in her new school and unable to express herself. Weighed down by recent memories, Nina was unable to concentrate in class and wouldn’t play with other children.

Knowing the importance of peer support and development, War Child established a child-to-child project at Nina’s school. A programme of activities was delivered, involving Nina and her schoolmates with War Child providing support.

Nina has already benefited from the project. So keen is she to join in the activities with her school friends, she has battled through illness and still attended each class. Some way into the project, War Child asked Nina how she was feeling, she replied, "I’m happy now that I feel safe enough to speak for myself”