Through These Children's Eyes: A Chronicle of Children In Crisis

Through These Children's Eyes chronicles the lives of four children who are facing crisis in separate parts of the world. The journey begins with Salama, a six-year old in Darfur, just as the Janjaweed force her and her family from their village. They make the long journey to a refugee to camp in Chad and face a life of uncertainty and chaos in dismal surroundings. We then meet Leila, a six-year old Sunni in Iraq. Her story begins after a hypothetical US pull out from Iraq and the collapse of the country into complete anarchy. The reader gets to experience a life of instability and violence through Leila's young eyes as she tries to cope with the daily fighting between the religious sects. From Iraq we travel to North Korea to meet Yong, just as her mother is arrested for treason and taken to Camp 14. Circumstances eventually lead Yong and her siblings to make a long journey on foot to their grandparent’s village near the Chinese border. Lastly we meet Grace, a six-year old in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, just as Hurricane Katrina is making landfall. Grace takes us through her experience in the Superdome where she and her family take refuge from the storm. It is important for me that the reader understands that in every corner of the world there are children who are leading the lives that they know, with families that love them. They have hopes and dreams, as does any child. These children, however, are forced to face unfathomable circumstances that rock the peaceful lives they should be, and long to be living.