Last year you helped us raise just over £5,500 for our 3D animated project, Life in the Desert, which enabled us to train even more teachers in how to use our trauma material alongside the animation. In total, nearly 2,000 children were supported through this project in 2020 including children and families in Beirut directly after the deadly port blast which rocked the city.

This year, we are championing this project once again.

Over the past ten years, the Middle East has seen the world’s most deadly conflicts take place within it, particularly in Syria, Yemen, Turkey and Iraq. The war in Syria has been the deadliest since the Iran-Iraq war in 1989 which saw more than 330,000 battle-related deaths recorded.

Wars in the Middle East are creating generational trauma and destroying families and communities. Those who lived through the deadly wars in the 1980s are now parents in a brand new, deadly war. Children that are forced to leave their homes and move to camps have all, in one form or another, experienced trauma whether through the loss of a loved one or through living in makeshift accommodation without running water or heating.

We have been asked time and time again by our partners for more episodes of our Life in the Desert project to take into refugee camps and vulnerable communities across the Middle East and North Africa. Since 2018, our partners have shown the first 13 episodes to over 6,200 children enabling them to start the journey of trauma recognition and healing.

This is what our partners said about the episodes:

"A story that helps every child to express his feelings and helps every parent to deal with their children in a healthy way.”

“A beautiful idea to merge the psychological support with the Bible and get healing through the Bible.”

“A very impactful story of what children face that shows how they can overcome their challenges strongly and with patience and joy. We need more episodes.”

“In one of the camps, a boy was always bullied by the other kids. After watching how Aadil treated Farah and became her friend, the kids actually stopped making fun of the boy and became his friend. Our team was thrilled that the children learned such a lesson!”

We want to break the cycle of generational trauma, and to do so, this year we are going to be moving, eating, dancing, knitting, gaming or any other challenge you want to do, to raise money for this transformational work. So far, we have raised money for 23 episodes out of 26. Will you help us raise money for the remaining 3 episodes?