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

Source: i100

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.

Source: 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 .

4439-1624h3q
Photo sourcE: i100.

With the war in its fifth year, some of these children have never known a life without the daily threat of bombings, massacres and violence.

4439-e6e6b7
Photo source: 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.

Photo source: i100
Photo source: i100

"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?"

Visit UNICEF's Syrian crisis page for information on how to help refugee children.