The Eyes of Children and Drawings on the Walls of War
By Ruqaya Al-Zaki
In one of the displacement centers in Port Sudan, eastern Sudan, the place was crowded with children accompanying their families who fled the horrors of war. A familiar scene unfolded in the camp as some of these children gathered around drawings made by one of them—depictions of weapons they had come to recognize all too well. The child drew shells, cannons, drones, and small arms, the names of which they repeated with an innocence tinged with fear. This scene offered a glimpse of the war through the eyes of these young ones, who had lived its horrors in every detail.
Faiza Saleh, a mother displaced from Omdurman, described how the war and the displacement journey, which took them from Omdurman and Al-Jazirah to Port Sudan, had deeply affected her children. With tears in her eyes, she said, “My little ones now draw shells and drones; they’ve lost their normal lives.” She added, “My children have suffered greatly from displacement and the tragedy of war. They keep asking me, ‘Mom, when will the war end? When can we go back to our house, our school, and our markets?’” Her greatest fear was the change in her childrens behavior and their fascination with drawing cannons and shells. When she asked why they drew such images, their answer was chillingly simple: “This is our reality now.”
Discussions about the impact of war on children often focus on numbers—how many have lost access to education, healthcare, and other rights. Yet the psychological toll on these children is far more devastating and painful.
The story of Abir Saleh, a young girl displaced with her family from Al-Jazirah state, reflects this harsh reality. After a grueling journey through many stops, Abir arrived in Port Sudan. Speaking briefly, she said, “A lot has happened to us.” On the cusp of adolescence, Abir had traveled parts of the way in a donkey-drawn cart and other parts in open vehicles exposed to the sun and cold. She recounted, “We rode the cart for three days, then moved from a lorry to a bus until we reached Al-Gedaref. We stayed at the local market for three days because we had no money. Then a woman approached us and said, ‘My husband has a car; we will take you with us.’ We traveled with her to Kassala, where we joined other displaced groups, and eventually, we reached Port Sudan.”
The war’s impact on children extended to nutrition, with four million children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition. According to health authorities, the number of sick children exceeds the available hospital beds. The humanitarian crisis affecting children is severe, with the catastrophic effects exacerbated by increasing waves of displacement to safer cities.
Dr. Ayman Abdel Qader, the medical director of the children’s hospital in Port Sudan, described the dire situation, noting a sharp increase in the number of patients, especially displaced children from various Sudanese states, since the war began on April 15, 2023. He said the hospital was forced to place three patients on a single bed due to overcrowding. Additionally, many children were deprived of routine vaccinations because of continuous displacement.
Amid these challenging circumstances, dozens of children await solutions to vaccination program disruptions caused by the war. Halima Abdullah, a displaced mother of a sick child, recounted her daughter’s suffering with illness, displacement, and war, painting a vivid picture of their ordeal.
As the suffering escalates, international attention to the plight of children in Sudan has begun to grow. The International Organization for Migration reported that nearly one million people had recently been displaced by the war, increasing the number of children affected by the catastrophic humanitarian conditions that have reshaped their dreams and aspirations.
