At the Nakivale Refugee Welcome Centre in South West Uganda, conditions are dire. Families sleep on concrete floors in overcrowded, unsanitary spaces. One mother from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who I met last year during a visit with War Child, had fled with her eight children after enduring horrific trauma. Her children, aged from toddler to teen, were totally silent. None were playing. That’s what hits me every time. In war, children are not allowed to be children.
Their right to a childhood, to safety, health, education, and play, had been stripped away. They had none of the agency that comes with adulthood so instead, they waited.
