When war strikes a region and residents are forced to flee, many times with only the things they can carry, the focus is always simply on preserving their lives. They must leave the places they had considered home in order to keep on living, and become refugees, strangers in lands strange to them, upended from everything they used to know. When basic survival becomes the top goal, other things can fall by the wayside, including the emotional wellbeing of the children caught up in the turmoil.
That’s where a Singapore art therapy organization saw an opportunity to help.
The Red Pencil, a service group based in Singapore, aims to help people work through traumas in both every day life and extreme situations, such as after natural disasters. When The Red Pencil works with people in art therapy in Singapore, sessions are usually conducted at hospitals and other facilities. The group’s trip to help children in a Syrian refugee camp was its first venture into a war zone, but one the founder said was an important way to aid in this humanitarian crisis.
Laurence Vandenborre, a woman born in Belgium who now lives in Singapore, oversaw The Red Pencil’s efforts at the refugee camp. She said she saw firsthand just how damaged the young refugees were when an innocent game of soccer erupted into violence when one child would snatch away the ball. Children would throw rocks at one another for what used to be minor slights, an indication of emotional trauma.
The first art session held with children living at the refugee camp was less art and more acting out, or outpourings of emotions. Instead of completing a drawing project proposed by art therapists, many students pressed too hard with their pencils and markers, tearing holes in the paper, ripping up what they did create and throwing it away. Though it may have felt like a failed session, Vandenborre said the children’s actions actually ended up being cathartic, helping them focus their artistic intentions on the next project.
With patience and hard work, the children began completing actual art projects, working together with their peers and with the art therapists to produce collaborative pieces of art. Before completing their initial mission to the refugee camp, the art therapists worked with the parents of the children to help teach them ways to use art to cope with the traumas present in their children’s lives. Art therapists of The Red Pencil plan to return to the refugee camp at least two more times.
Art is incredibly important, offering myriad benefits for those who choose to learn how to complete projects in any one of a number of genres. That’s why you should consider signing up for an art class through SGArtClass.com, especially if you’ve never tried art before. Everything from drawing to painting to mural art and 3-D sculpture can lessen stress and bad moods while giving you tools to cope with whatever life throws at you.
To learn more about the charity’s efforts to help refugee children, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/charity-tries-art-therapy-to-heal-refugee-kids-trauma.