This story is from Michael Galway who is a Communication Consultant for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's charity.

Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza is a place where Palestinian children have had few outlets to express their fears and hopes for the future until recently. Because of the dramatic escalation in conflict in the region since September 2000 there has been little opportunity for fun and play and far too much fear and uncertainty. However, the UNICEF-supported 'Children and Future' project for children at the Women's Programme Centre near to the camp is beginning to help.

For many children suffering trauma as a result of conflict in more than 50 countries, expressing feelings through art, play-acting or discussions is a crucial first step to recovery. UNICEF also helps teachers, health workers, families and other community members understand and fulfil the needs of these children.

The centre's previous outreach programme used to run only once a week for children aged 5 to 15. Now groups of children come in shifts on alternate days, and the community centre has added a new extension to accommodate the large influx of young children that have turned to the centre during the past year as a place to have fun.

The 'Children and Future' project, which began 7 October 2001, gives children an opportunity to work out some of their fears and anxieties about their daily lives, while also reflecting on their thoughts about the future. Scissors, pastels, construction paper and coloured markers are scattered across half a dozen small tables, as children busily draw images of their favourite pastimes and places they would like to visit.

Jabber, 12, dreams about playing football and fishing, he explains as he carefully draws a picture of himself with his father on the beach grilling shish kabab and drinking an Orangina soda. His idyllic scene then gives way to the violence some children in Gaza have seen first-hand, as he colours in a jet plane and says that it has bombs. A month earlier Jabber had witnessed a helicopter gun-ship firing on a target in Gaza City. Jabber says he felt afraid and sad about people being hurt, but that he still hopes that someone "…will bring back peace and stop the killing."

At the centre, 17 volunteers from the community help children like Jabber deal with their fears and anxieties. The volunteers, trained by the Canaan Institute of New Pedagogy in Gaza, are able to identify symptoms of psychosocial distress. They suggest exercises for children to express themselves, develop a sense of trust and resilience, build their self-esteem and understand the needs, rights and feelings of others.

"There is a need for children to express their fears about the shelling and killings," says Baha el Shatali, who is responsible for the animation section at the Canaan Institute. "They also have the right to think about and plan for the future. That's why we are pushing the centre to involve children in activities so they can ask decision makers to create the right environment for children to live peacefully."

The Women's Programme Centre is one of 31 locations of the 'Children and Future' project in Gaza. The project is part of UNICEF's efforts to support community organizations in the West Bank and Gaza area that are creating peaceful opportunities for children to express their fears and hopes, and work towards fulfilling their dreams. Over the next few months, some 700 young people - most aged 10 to 14 - will have such opportunities because of the project.

Rawan, 10, is one of them. She is participating in a 'Children and Future' project run by the Women and Child Development Society in Rafah, in south Gaza. Rawan's best friend was killed by shrapnel, and the incident left her afraid, depressed and withdrawn for several weeks.

Now Rawan is being helped to come to terms with this tragedy, and through acting is identifying various scenarios for working out her problems. The other girls in the class suggest different ways that Rawan can deal with her fear, and the acting is helping her to find her voice again.