**4.4 Project implementation**

The NGO project started at the end of the year 2005. Our fieldwork kicked off in June 2006 with a series of consultations with 400 former child combatants. The objectives of the initial consultations were to assess the mental health needs of the children, to train the community mobilizers to be attentive to the needs of the children, to initiate and supervise the administration of drugs as indicated, and finally to provide psychotherapeutic services. We received children either individually or in groups depending on their needs.

We planned and conducted field activities in series, and each activity lasted seven days; field activities began with an assessment of the psychological needs of the children followed by the training of the community mobilizers.

We conducted community awareness campaigns to convince parents on the harmful effects of war on the psychological health of individuals. The campaigns were conducted at market places, and an average of 100 persons per village (300 persons were present in *Kaadé)* attended the sessions*.*

At the end of the awareness campaigns, 177 persons asked for medical assistance though only 30 people eventually came for consultation.

Some major signs of psychic disorder were identified among parents including depression, psychosis and fear with a feeling of suspicion, demotivation with low performance at work and an accentuation of poverty situation.

Following our assessment of children's mental health needs, we engaged them in a variety of therapeutic activities such as drawing (draw your house and your family, before, during and after the war), and we engaged the older children in income generating activities to determine how the children would adapt to work situations. In the course of implementing our fieldwork we wanted to observe how the children behaved, how the village and family environment might be a limiting factor, how the weather changes and seasons influenced the engagement of children and how the children's social and cultural factors might influence the future of the children. Our fieldwork ended in August 2008, four months after the NGO project ended in April 2008. We now present the results of our medical assistance to the former child soldiers.

War in Côte d'Ivoire and Management of Child's Post Traumatic Stress Disorders 167

of her mother as food for her tormentors, and one of them desired to take her as his wife. At the time we met her, she had being living for over one year in another village without any

Many children told their war experiences, how they stood up to defend their villages and their region; many of them witnessed atrocities and some of them carried the physical marks

According to these children, their involvement in the war was motivated by revenge (13.91%); defense of the country/village (4.35%); liberation of their farms (3.19%); solidarity

Ten percent of the children (10.43%) joined the conflict in 2002; 29.27% in 2003; 4.06% in 2004; and 1.74% in 2005. Over fifty percent of the children (54.5%) of the children did not specify the period of their involvement in the war; 4.35% were engaged in the war below the

Over fifty percent (56.81%) saw a man being killed but 20.87% did not witness such a scene. Eight percent (8.41%) of the children said they did not have any reaction to a person being killed, 25.51% were afraid, 9.27% were upset, 4.93% were delighted, 2.32% felt pity, 1.45% revolted, and 3.78% said they felt traumatized. Just under ten percent (9.86%) joined deliberately the armed group to make war and 36.52% were inspired by someone they knew and 26.38% followed a parent. A third (30.43%) had learned how to manipulate weapons and 27.64% were trained in a camp. Among those who had been trained in a camp, one could list 46.8% of children recruited by an armed Liberian group called *LIMA*, 33.0% were recruited by *ZAKPRO* (an Ivoirian militia), 12.8% were recruited by *FLGO* (an Ivoirian militia for the liberation of the western region), 3.2% were recruited by *APWE* (the Alliance of Wê Patriots), and 2.1% were recruited by an unidentified special force. Forty percent (41.16%) said there were children in camps during the war. Their number varied from less than five to more than thirty. All of them talked about the presence of girls among the child soldiers whose size reached sometimes 20, according to the groups. They served as cooks, (20%), fighters (5.22%) cleaners and maids (3.19%), security guards (2.32%), and as porters (2.03%). The number of girls used for sexual purposes was not specified. Forty percent (38.26%) of the children reported to have an affective and physical proximity with someone

Over two percent (2.61%) of the participants had already had problems with the law (arrests by the police for offence). None had a previous record of psychiatric illness; 52.17% were sexually active with, at times, several partners (63.33% had 1, and 36.67% had as many as 6 sexual partners). Fewer than ten percent of the children (9.57%) had been victims of sexual abuse and violence (70% for girls against 30% for boys); many of the girls had served, as sexual slaves for the rebels. Twenty seven percent of girls involved in the research were teenage mothers. The teenage mothers justified these early motherhoods on the basis that the traditional *Guéré* cosmogony (the ethnic group of the region) required girls to give birth to prove their capacity to give life, which similarly gives them the status of being woman. Just over fourteen percent(14.49%) of the children reported the use of cannabis, gunpowder; 37.39% the use of various brand of locally brewed alcohol (*distilled cane sugar* or *Koutoukou (distilled palm wine*, or some adulterated alcohol); 16.52% smoked tobacco; and 0.3% inhaled solvents (glue). All the children showed evidence of mental health problems among which insomnia ranked first. There were a group of traumatized children presented with clear

link with her family and was pregnant with her second child.

(2.32%); imitation of others (0.8%); and no reason (75.36%).

of their contribution to the war.

among the rebels.

**5.3 Evidence of psychopathology** 

age of 10 and 49.86% between 12 and 15.
