Wars effect on children

In The Painted Bird, the narrator is effected greatly by the war going on around him. He has to escape and ends up wandering from village to village just trying to survive. Luckily he comes along some people that give him a place to live and food to eat. Although in not all of these situations he is lucky. He witnesses many things that he wouldn't otherwise have witnessed at his age if a war hadn't been going on. Some of the things he witnesses include a women and children being raped (177), he was used in a sexual way (145), and he also witnessed the killing and hanging of men (183). All of these situations are examples of things a "normal" 8-10 year old boy wouldn't normally see. All of these situations were effects of war. THis narrator isn't the only child who and still is effected by war. In They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, some of the boys faced situations just like this, and maybe even worse. I was interested in what kind of effects these situations had on children. I found an organization who tries to reach out to these children who are traumatized by war, and its called Children and War Foundation. Not only does this foundation help with providing children and families material things, it also helps them deal with symptoms they have developed, like post traumatic stress disorder. I provided a link that leads to their website, which gives much more information about them and ways that you can help.

http://www.childrenandwar.org/