Naharnet

ART4LIVES offering resilience-building workshops to help refugee children cope with war.

Lara Kalaf, Phd candidate and psychologist, launched a crowd funding campaign on indiegogo, to finance a new psychosocial support program for refugee children in Lebanon, called ART4LIVES.

$8,580 needs to be raised to organize the first set of workshops for 14 refugee children aged 12-14 years old in Lebanon (including, healthy meals, art material the children can keep, a safe working environment, safe transportation, etc.). Any amount raised above this initial target will help organize more of the same workshops in surrounding countries also dealing with the influx of refugees. These artistic workshops teach participants realistic ways of coping with the negative consequences of war. This is called psychological resilience and is the best way to prevent the development of psychological dysfunction in war-affected children. Art-based therapies are scientifically proven to enhance resilience and can easily be implemented in refugee camps.

A refugee camp is the most dangerous place for a child. As of today, there now over 4 million registered Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria to neighbouring countries, including 1.7 million in Turkey, 1.1 million in Lebanon and 600,000 in Jordan. It is the world’s single largest refugee crisis for almost a quarter of a century under UNHCR’s mandate. With well over 45 countries at war today, millions of children struggle with the physical and psychological traumas of war. They have higher risk of death, disability, and becoming rape victims. They are often taken out of school, homeless, orphaned or forced into violence. Their quality of life is drastically deteriorated causing serious physical and psychological suffering that can have a lasting effect.

 

Donations start at $1. Different perks can be claimed by donors; including free access to the movies created by the children, a personalized art piece from one of the kids, and 10 hours of consultancy to a non-profit organization.

ART4LIVES, is a soon to be, registered charity in Canada whose purpose is to prevent mental health problems in war-affected children by fostering resilience through art. It will provide resilience-building interventions, generate research data about resilience in war-zones, and offer constancy to NGO’s working with refugees.

Last day to donate through Indiegogo, a trusted global fundraising site helping individuals, businesses, and non-profits raise money online, is September 23rd 2015. A follow-up campaign may be created as well as alternative ways of donating.

Click here to view the crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo


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