For Timofy, everything changed when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014 and his family was forced to leave their home in Donetsk. He was young, but remembers the sudden upheaval when his family fled to Myrnohrad, a town further away from the fighting.

After the move, Timofy's father died in an accident. He was left behind with his mother, little brother, and a lot of responsibility.

"I didn't really understand what I was supposed to do. I just listened to my mother, listened to the news, and tried to follow all the rules that were in place because of the war," says Timofyj.

Forced into a new everyday life

When Russia launched its large-scale invasion in 2022, Myrnohrad, the family's new home, ended up close to the front line. A shell hit the house where they lived and they were forced to flee again. Timofyj had to quickly leave school and all his friends behind.

"The war has caused me to lose touch with my friends. I hardly talk to those I don't go to school with anymore. Some of them I don't even remember," says Timofyj.

Today, he lives with his mother and younger brother in the Kiev region and is trying to rebuild a secure everyday life.

Childhood was exchanged for responsibility

His father's death and the escape from Donetsk meant that Timofyj had to take on a greater role at home at an early age.

"I take care of my little brother and help out with whatever I can. I'm kind of my mom's right-hand man," says Timofyj.

In the midst of his new everyday life, he still tries to live like a normal teenager with school, friends, and free time.

A chance to think about something other than the war

Together with the local organization WCU, Erikshjälpen works to give children the opportunity to escape the war for a while and just be children.

In child-friendly family hubs, children can socialize with friends, engage in creative activities, and receive support from psychologists to process what they have experienced. All activities are organized in shelters so that they can continue even during air raid alerts.

Here, Timofyj can momentarily let go of all the responsibilities that war brings and just be himself: a teenager.

"My brother and I really like it. It's fun and exciting, and it's cool to get to do something interesting," says Timofyj.

Timofy's thoughts on the future

Even though Timofyj finds it difficult to imagine life after the war, he still has dreams.

– I want to understand more about IT, about different codes, and earn money from it. But I don't know yet what you have to do to achieve that.

Sabina breaks into a smile as she recounts the first time spinach was served at school.

– When my classmates and I saw that vegetables were being grown in the school garden, we were totally blown away. I had never seen cabbage or onions growing around here before, and it was the first time I’d ever eaten spinach at school.

Climate change makes farming more difficult

Eating vegetables is not a given for children in the remote village of Korr in northern Kenya. Climate change is clearly noticeable here, and the annual dry seasons are becoming longer. It is becoming more difficult to grow crops, and the lack of water is also causing livestock to die of dehydration. The food shortage is serious. In some parts of the country, one in three children may never reach the age of five.

Against all odds, the school garden is growing

But in the middle of this arid landscape, a school garden is now thriving at Amalio Primary School in Korr. As part of Erikshjälpen's long-term work in northern Kenya, students are learning about nutrition. They are also learning about cultivation techniques that make it possible to grow crops despite the drought. The vegetables they grow are then used in school lunches, providing the children with important nutrients.

"At school, we've learned about vegetables that are full of vitamins. And now I can see them growing!" says Sabina.

The school garden gives hope for the future

For Sabina, the school garden has become more than just a school garden. It has become a place where vegetables are grown for school lunches and hope for the future is cultivated.

– Now I know that vegetables help us to be strong and healthy.

Now she dreams of one day working as a teacher and teaching sustainable farming to children and young people – and in many ways, that dream has already taken off.

"I want to start growing things at home, even though it's very dry. But I'm going to show my mom how to grow cabbage in a bag without using so much water," says Sabina.

Talking to children about issues that affect their lives and futures is a central part of Erikshjälpen's work. When we asked children and young people from Erikshjälpen Framtidsverkstad about lowering the age of criminal responsibility, they shared a variety of thoughts and experiences.

"If they lower the age to thirteen, they'll just send twelve-year-olds instead. A thirteen-year-old doesn't shoot someone because he wants to, but because he's forced to. He's thirteen years old—what else can he do?" says a seventeen-year-old.

The young people described the subject as uncertain and difficult to talk about. But despite differing opinions, there was one thing everyone agreed on: solutions must be put in place long before a crime is committed.

Young people's proposals to stop gang recruitment

During the discussions, the young people highlighted important measures to prevent children from becoming involved in crime:

• More preventive interventions recreation centers and meaningful activities that all children have the opportunity to participate in.
• Secure relationships with adults and the police – without trust, children do not dare to seek help or talk about threats and pressure.
• Support at school and at home – more adults who are present, attentive, and engaged in children's everyday lives.

The young people emphasized that harsh punishments should be directed at adults and older criminals who exploit children to commit crimes—not at the children themselves.

Erikshjälpen supports young people

Erikshjälpen rejects the government's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility. Like young people, we believe that the proposal does not address the underlying causes of child crime. Instead, it risks causing more children to reoffend and new children to be recruited.

"Real security for young people and society is created through early and long-term interventions, strong relationships, and contexts where children are supported in choosing paths other than crime," says Mattias Ingeson, Secretary-General Erikshjälpen.

The drought in northern Kenya is the worst in over 40 years. In Turkana district, one in three children is at risk of acute malnutrition. Epakan lives here with her parents and three siblings in the small village of Ngikwatex. Her family is used to droughts every year and has adapted their lives to the weather. But in recent years, climate change has made the dry spells longer and the consequences worse. Livestock die, crops fail and families go without food. Sometimes for days at a time.

Aloe vera cultivation was the solution

But amidst the cracked ground, something green has started to grow. For Epakan and her family, it was aloe vera that turned their lives around. When the family was at its worst, mother Aweet received support and training from Erikshjälpen that enabled her to start growing in the dry landscape. She learned which cultivation techniques work best, how to prepare the sap from the leaves and what it takes to sell successfully in the local market.

- I have been given many good tools to cope with all the challenges when the drought comes. Now I can feed my family two meals a day and the children can continue going to school," says Aweet.

Growing aloe vera may seem like a small change. But for Epakan it is actually life-changing. The money isn't just for food - now her mother Aweet can afford to send her children to school. And for the start of the school year, Epakan has been given a school uniform, shoes, socks and exercise books.