Molotov Cocktails and Kittens

Today was a stressful day. We were in a therapy group with the children in the tent, and we heard screaming, and the sound of molotov cocktails. I stuck my head out of our tent, where the 6 small children continued their task, and saw men with black shirts over their faces running by, with metal poles in their hands, yelling, Our director called to tell me that they were evacuating most of the NGO's in the camp, as there was a violent outbreak happening between the Kurds and the Syrians in progress. I looked around, and about 200 meters away saw the line of riot police. Our director said, "How close is the tear gas?" I answered, "Oh, about 200 meters away." She said, "Get out immediately." Somehow the children had already scattered in the chaos, leaving us with one little 3-year-old. We walked around in the chaos looking for her mother. I remembered that we had brought a very special birthday cake for one of our adolescent girls, and it suddenly became very important to find her and give her the cake. She had said her only birthday wish was that she could have a "normal" birthday. Somehow this was seeming more and more normal.

We headed out across the camp, on the other side of the railway tracks, where everything seemed surreally calm. The school was in progress, and some adolescent boys were sitting with a baby kitten that they had rescued from the road, They were tenderly looking for milk for the poor little thing.Bands of thugs were running around with chains and sticks, looking for the opposite ethnic group.

So it seems the police are using more and more tear gas in the camp. I've been noticing children with chronic red eyes, which they say is a reaction to this,. According to Wikipedia:Tear gas, formally known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (from the Latin lacrima, meaning "tear"), is a chemical weapon that causes severe eye, respiratory, and skin irritation, pain, vomiting, and even blindness. In the eye, it stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland to produce tears. Common lachrymators include pepper spray (OC gas), CS gas, CR gas,

Lachrymatory agents are commonly used for riot control. Their use in warfare is prohibited by various international treaties. DuringWorld War I, increasingly toxic lachrymatory agents were used.

Allowed in the refugee camps, , but not allowed in warfare...hummmmmm

 .The boys were unafraid. One Kurdish teenager told me, "We already survived the war. What more can they do to us?"