The next generation’s burden

“I want to be a police officer to avenge my father,” says 10-year-old Abanoub Samaan Nazmy, as he turns a toy gun over in his hands. His father was shot dead by a suspected military sniper during protests over the burning of a church in March 2011.

There is a lot of trauma in Egypt from the last few years of political violence, the impact of which may not be fully realized for years. Psychiatrist Eman Gaber, who leads a trauma program in Egypt, says the impact is widespread and impossible to gather any clear statistics on, as “it’s hard for children not to be exposed to any violence," whether rioting in their neighborhoods or images on television or the internet.

Children are sometimes unable to express themselves, and societal misunderstandings of, and the stigma surrounding mental health problems means they often go without treatment, Gaber explains.