Pakistan floods: Using art therapy to cope with the trauma - gallery

Shazia, 12, from Thull in Jacobabad district: “We had to move from our home and I remember my parents were scared, I didn’t understand what 'flood' meant. We lived in a camp in Sukkur city for two months and I heard bad stories from the people who lived there with us. The camp was smelly and dirty. I became ill and lost a lot of weight. The drawing is about what happened to our village in the floods. Houses were under water and people were trying to run away. Everyone was screaming and were scared they might drown in the water. We have never seen this much water before. Since joining the Save the Children’s art class I’ve become good at drawing. I enjoy it and it makes me feel proud to be able to do this. I now teach the other children how to draw" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save The Children

Jinsar, eight, from Thull in Jacobabad district: "When the flood came we didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t understand anything. We had to leave our home. We stayed away in a camp for about three months. We lived in a tent. One of my aunties was bitten by a snake, there were a lot of snakes after the floods started. I was very scared and I missed my friends and school. We didn’t go to school for a long time because the school was under water. I am happy we have come back to the village, but our home is damaged and we still sleep in a tent. I enjoy drawing at the art classes and never thought I could do it. At first I didn’t want to do it, but the teacher convinced me to try" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children

Sapna, seven, from Thull, Jacobabad district: "I was rescued by a boat when the floods came. We stayed on top of the house for two days before they came. The water got very high and I thought we would die. The boat took us to a dry place and later we went to Sukkur city where we lived for three months with my uncle. I lost my toys, especially my bear – he is in the picture. This made me very upset" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children

Iqbal, seven, from Ghairi Kahiro in Jacobabad district, with his friends form the safe place area centre: “My picture is called 'when the flood came'. I made it in the art class. It shows how everything was ruined when the floods came here. We have never seen flood before and couldn’t believe that such a bad thing could happen to us. Nobody was spared. All my family and friends were hurt by this flood. The school, the fields, the homes of everyone in the village were flooded with water taller than my dad" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children

Naila, 10, from Jacobabad district: "I faced the worst days of my life after the flood. We moved to the city of Hyderabad to my sister’s house when we heard the floods were coming. She has a small home and our family is very large so we couldn’t live there for long. We moved to a relief camp near to her house. Those were the worst days I have spent in my life. It was horrible being away from home with no food and no friends. We lost most of our things in the flood as we couldn’t take our belongings with us and when we came back everything was either washed away or ruined by the water and mud. In our village the water was higher than me. I drew this picture because I’ve experienced life in the camp and know how people live in the camps. In the camp, people’s behaviour was very bad. They used to tease the poor and the women. I didn’t like the camp environment. Now I feel good that I can go to school and resume my studies and have a place to play. I feel happy" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children

Noreen, eight, from Jacobabad district: “When we heard about the floods my father decided to take us to Quetta. It took us five days to get there. We stayed with my grandparents for three months. I missed my friends and my home and I missed playing in the fields. The fields have turned into a sea and I don’t think the water will go away soon. I made this picture at the centre [in the safe play area] where I come every day to play and draw. The picture shows what happened when the flood happened.  The boats and helicopters made so much noise and people were screaming to be taken away, but the helicopters dropped food and then went away. My mother was very ill when the floods came and she has been sick since then. I made the picture for her. Her name is Kainat.  I am scared the floods might come again and feel that we all should move to another place where there are no floods. I don’t want to see that much water again. It gives me goosebumps all over" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children

Sana, six, from Jacobabad district: “For about one week we used to listen to the news on the radio. Then the announcements on the loudspeakers of the mosque said the floods were coming here. I stayed very close to my mother all the time. It rarely rains here, so we could not imagine what the floods would be like. We left the village two days before the flood came to our village. We went to the city of Quetta. We have relatives there, but they did not help us, so we rented a building and started living there. When we returned to our village, the situation was worse than we thought it was like coming to a graveyard - we could only see the debris. Our house was in a very bad condition, almost everything was broken. I drew this picture because, when I was going to Quetta I saw that many poor families were going to other places, carrying luggage on their backs and shoulders, even the children were carrying heavy items on their shoulders" Photograph: Fauzan Ijazah/Save the Children