GENEVA, Switzerland, 17 October 2008 For a moment during the recent war in and around South Ossetia, Georgia, the front line nearly passed through the Senaki Institute, a residential school for 105 mentally and physically disabled children abandoned by their parents. In the opening days of the conflict, a bomb flattened an adjacent building.
While many residents of the nearby town fled, the children and teachers at Senaki stayed because there was nowhere they could quickly flee. Indeed, if children are the most vulnerable members of society during a conflict, then disabled children like these are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.
Days later, as fighting persisted, an attack helicopter was dispatched to Senaki, which is located near a military base. Perhaps thinking that the children's institute sheltered soldiers, the aircraft hovered outside the building, its missiles poised to shoot.
Stressful experiences
What may have prevented the destruction of the institute was the curiosity of some of the children inside, according to its Deputy Director, Tina Akhaliaa. Many of the children were terrified, but a handful unaware of the danger went to a window facing the helicopter, made eye contact with the pilot and began waving to him.
UNICEF Image
© UNICEF Georgia/2008/Bucker
At the Senaki Institute for disabled children abandoned by their families, UNICEF is providing supplies, rehabilitation assistance and staff training on psycho-social counselling in the aftermath of conflict.
A moment later, the machine veered off.
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