Portraits and interviews with displaced children from Iraq and Ukraine. This selection is part of an independent photo project which I did with children from Syria, Iraq, Ukraine (and also Iran). The children describe in their own words their life and their experiences with the current situation in these countries.
Children stories from Iraq / Ukraine (Portraits and interviews with displaced children)
1-Majida (Iraq), 9 years old:
»I have two sisters, five brothers and my parents. We come from Sibasheikxedir in the Sinjar mountains and have been here for two months.
We were sleeping when Daesh attacked and we did run away from our homes then. I took only the clothes that I had on and our identity cards.
First we spent 10 days in the mountains with very little to drink. There was hardly any food also, we only had dried bread. We walked down towards Syria. From there, a truck brought us to Kurdistan.
During the day I'm playing with friends and take part in some educational lessons in a tent.
I miss my old village and my sheep which I had to leave in our village.
At night I'm dreaming sometimes of Daesh.
I want to be a doctor. Thank you.«
2-Hawas (Iraq), 14 years old
»I still have one sister.
My three brothers and my cousin have been kidnapped by Daesh.
I have lived for four month with my parents in this camp. We used to live in Sibasheik in the Sinjar mountains.
There were many difficulties, when we came down from the mountains where we had fled first. We were hungry and thirsty. I saw them shooting at us. We then made it to Kurdistan.
At the moment I don't go to school and before I was in the ninth grade.
I'm doing very little during the day, as I am not in contact with my old friends from Sinjar. Sometimes I'm walking around and just talk with others about Sinjar.
There is nothing that makes me really happy.
I miss my brothers who were kidnapped and my home Sinjar. At night I'm dreaming of my brothers too. My greatest wish is to see them again.
In future I want to become a doctor.
I would like to express my gratitude for the humanitarian assistance that we have received.«
3-Roza (Iraq), 9 years old
»I have been in the camp with my brothers, sisters and parents for a month now and none of us is missing.
First we went to Syria and from there we were brought here by car with the help of the Kurdish government.
Daesh took us our home and so we have no more school, but we have been registered again for a new school in the camp.
I just wrote down all the names of our family and help my mother baking bread. My mother is always baking bread for the whole family and our food is good.
Apart from that I play with my friends and I am happy with them.
I'm not afraid, I miss only my home.
In my dreams, I always see men.
I want to become a doctor.«
4-Glieb (Ukraine), 15 years old
»I came with my father and one of my brothers from Luhansk to Kiev fifteen months ago, but my mother and my little brother stayed there.
My father said that it would be better to go away and at first we thought only for a few months, but now it just happened that we have not gone back. I talk via Skype each day with my mother and she says that she's fine and she's afraid to depart from Luhansk, but I don't know why.
So I'd already come to Kiev before the war began and therefore I didn't directly notice much of the war. In Kiev I visit a school, I now have Ukrainian lessons besides all other subjects. I always try to do my homework quickly because I have dance training every day and also theater training once a week.
I think that I have more friends here than before in Luhansk. I don't speak with my old friends from Luhansk anymore, because it does not interest me and we have nothing in common. At first, the contact with my old friends was still okay, but now it really does not interest me. Of course, I still talk to my mother in Luhansk.
I don't know what makes me really happy and I'm afraid of nothing. In the beginning I was afraid that I couldn't go back any longer, but not anymore now.
Nevertheless, I miss Luhansk, where I went to school and spent a lot of time. And I miss my old dance teachers. I speak with them in social networks and they still continue the training and competitions, though far less children are participating now as many have left.
Often I have a particular dream: I'm dreaming that I do parachute jump with a school friend who came to Kiev with me and that we would fly. That's all.
Professionally, I would like to work as a choreographer or theater trainer hence I have been dancing for four years now and did acrobatics previously.«
5-Varvara (Ukraine), 14 years old
»I have no siblings and my parents are separated, but they both live in Kiev. I have many relatives, cousins, uncles and aunts in the Donezk area and initially they stayed for a time in Kiev too, but then they moved back again due to work and school.
On 17. May 2014 I went from Luhansk, my birthplace, to Kiev. When the war started, my mother moved to Poland for work and I stayed with my mother's colleague in Kiev at this time. When my mother came back from Poland, the war really started in the East and we remained in Kiev.
Since I thought primarily that I would stay just for a few weeks in Kiev, I took only one bag with shirts, some pants and two pairs of shoes from Luhansk. One has forwarded me things later and we have also received humanitarian aid.
When I lived in the Donezk area, I only noticed the beginning of the war, for example, how the office of the secret service was occupied. And I saw several people with guns who cruised around.
In the past, I always liked it to sit on the window seat in a marshrutka (shared taxi), but when the war started my mother asked me not to sit right by the window.
I'm visiting a high school in Kiev with a focus on physics and mathematics. This year I was not so good at school, but next year I'll try harder. When I started the school in Kiev, I was not motivated and therefore I had a bad relationship with my teachers. I have three very good friends, they know a lot about me and my old life, because I have told them so much about me.
I have hardly any contact to my old friends from the Donezk area, as many of them began to write about politics and I did not like this. My mother told me also to be careful with political statements in social media. So when it comes to politics, I avoid the conversations.
Besides the school I attend a theater group and another group where I sing. I'm pleased about clothes and cakes.
I was afraid of dogs in the past, but now I have fought this fear and at the moment my biggest fear is losing close relatives.
I miss my old room in Snezhnoe and my guinea pig which I have left as a gift to a friend there.
I used to have many beautiful books and toys. At the beginning of the war, I often dreamed that someone of my friends is kidnapped and something happens to him, but now it's OK.
My wish is to see my relatives again who don't want to come to Kiev. They don't want to come here, because they say that they were born there and have adjusted to this place and therefore they prefer this place to Kiev.
I'm still not sure what I'll do in the future. First, I hope that I will finish school and maybe I want to be a translator, psychologist or psychotherapist. Or maybe also a singer or actress.
I would like to say that I have started a project for child refugees, named All children have a kind heart. I do this because many child refugees are missing things, for example clothes, books, pencils or exercise books. My girlfriend helps me. I write about my project in social media, I speak with friends and my mother, who is working for Vostok-SOS, and who supports me with my project. If someone would like to donate or has something to give away, then he can bring it to the office of Vostok-SOS.
So far, there are not so many people who bring something. Sometimes, child refugees come along with their parents and then I talk to them.«