Aiding Darfur: A nurse's story II

Trauma nurse Roberta Gately, who works for the International Rescue Committee aid agency, tells BBC News Online about trying to help some of the 1.5 million people who have fled their homes in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur.

Roberta and the children often share jokes

The children of Darfur have been forever affected by war.

They have been forced to witness murder and rape and cruelties beyond imagination.

Once they arrive in the camps, their plight continues, for it is the children who will die first. Disease and starvation will seek them out and ravage their fragile little bodies.

When I see them at our clinic near Nyala, they are often wailing at the sight of the vaccination needle or at the prospect of being poked and prodded. It might seem that the future is bleak for those children who do survive all of this madness.

But their very fragility is matched by their resiliency. Those who do survive search for play and adventures to remind us all that they are still children.

High hopes

The United Nations children's agency (Unicef) has opened schools for the camp children to regain some sense of normality and structure into their lives. Each morning, they happily march off to school, clutching their notebooks and dreams.

One tiny boy, who said he had suffered horrific injuries at the hands of the pro-government Janjaweed militia, told me excitedly of his plans to be a doctor.

These precious children have not forgotten that they are children. Now it is up to the world to remember as well

When he spoke, his eyes lit up, his injuries were forgotten.

He had the wide-eyed happiness of a child for whom anything is possible. His future lies ahead, a blank canvas still waiting for his colours and imaginings to fill it in.

But the schooling is scant here and only consumes a few short hours.

Once school is finished for the day, play-time here in the camps of Darfur moves between absolute emptiness and stunning creativity.

There are no real toys. so children must create their own. With ingenuity and imagination, they create toys that we all want to try out.

Home-made toys

One of my favourite is a kite. Fashioned from a worn and fraying coloured plastic bag, it is tied to a simple bit of string.

As its creator runs along, the little kite takes magnificent flight and colours the bleak landscape. We all watch in wonder as it takes to the sky and we all feel our spirits soar along with the little kite.

The children shriek in delight and watch in wonder.

Another toy is a tiny vehicle of sorts. Crafted from a discarded plastic water bottle, it is fitted onto smooth rounded bits of wood to create wheels.

Attached to a length of string, it is a serviceable toy car and, though not nearly so fancy as the ones I see at home, it is surely more valued.

For those children who sit idly, the sighting of a relief worker creates excitement. As the car approaches, the children race to the road and scream and wave. They screech in delight when we wave back.

When I walk through the camp, I am surrounded, 20-deep, by children. All want to shake my hand and walk beside me with their tiny hands tucked into mine.

We smile and giggle at one another. My attempts at Arabic invariably elicit squeals of laughter as they rush to correct me. We are each enchanted by the other's company.

I savour those moments and tuck them away in my heart. Safely held there, they are cherished reminders that these precious children have not forgotten that they are children. Now it is up to the world to remember as well.

Roberta's previous articles