More than 100,000 children traumatised: Norwegian aid worker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 March 2010, 18:03 GMT]
Redd Barna (Save the Children) aid worker from Norway, Vidar Strøm, has said that there are over one hundred thousand children who have been traumatised, to a greater or lesser degree, after being exposed to the war and then for the internment camps in the North. Redd Barna has gained access to the camps only after December 01 and is working to create child-friendly environment within the camps. "The goal is to make a very abnormal situation as normal as possible," Mr. Strøm told the official website of the organisation.

Save the Children is working intensively to put in place school, kindergarten or similar structures for children who are exposed to war, Mr. Strøm told the website. This is his fifth mission in Sri Lanka.

"Children need support from adults who can understand and attend to their needs. Save the Children, among other things, has provided training to parents and teachers."

"These children are entirely dependent on aid, and our job is to protect them best. I am glad that humanitarian organizations have been allowed entry into the camps," Mr. Strøm has told Reddbarna.no.