An NGO asked Syrian children in Damascus to draw their fears for the future.

The project is part of a wider effort to address the psychological needs of the millions of Syrian children whose lives have been torn apart by the war by giving them outlets to express themselves.

Projects like these have shown that children are like “a sponge that absorbs all the war and stores it inside,” according to Sandra Awad for Caritas Syria, who spoke to i100.

Projects like these have shown that children are like “a sponge that absorbs all the war and stores it inside,” according to Sandra Awad for Caritas Syria, who spoke to i100.

Imagine: a whole generation of children, who when given crayons don’t draw rainbows, dogs or cats, but instead show bombs, blood and death.

“These pictures show what life is like for a whole generation of Syrian children,” Alan Thomlinson, Cafod’s emergency manager for the Syria crisis, told i100. “It’s easy to see why so many families want to build a new life in Europe. What parent wants their child to grow up in constant fear?”