Plan is working to create child-safe areas to help thousands of children in the camps

26 May 2009: Children who have fled the fighting in the Bunair region of Pakistan share their experiences with Plan staff.

Many have fled their homes with few possessions and made long, hazardous journeys to the camps or to stay with relatives. Conditions are cramped and increasingly under strain.

Up to 70% of displaced people in some areas are children and estimates now put the amount of people displaced by the conflict between the Taleban and government forces at more than 2,000,000.

Plan is working to create child-safe areas for children in the camps and has launched an emergency appeal.

Sawaira’s story

Eight-year-old Sawaira loves studying and misses school. She wants to return to her school in the Bunair region – but she is scared if she goes back, she and other children will be killed.

Her favourite subject is Islamiyat (religious studies) and she is desperate for the camp school to start.

 “We left our home because of the fighting, there were loud bangs and we were all shouting and crying out of fear.

“I ran to my mother as I was very afraid of what was happening! I was running from room to room, but even they were not safe. We all just cried as we did not know what to do,” she says.

She still re-lives those experiences especially at night, when she sees the flashes in her dreams. It is difficult for her to stop crying and she ends up running to her mother.

Abdullah’s story

Abdullah, aged 15, and his family arrived at the camp after a long and difficult trek, sometimes at great risk.

He now experiences flashbacks of the violence he has witnessed.

But he is reluctant to share his worries as he says: “All the people here are very much helpless and their condition is very pitiable and pathetic.”

He admits he feels hopeless about the situation and misses school and worries about missing out on his studies.

I don’t want to stay here, I want to go back home at all costs, I want the situation to get better quickly so that I can go back,” he said.