A Hundred Thousand Orphans: My Experience with the Children of the Eritrean War

A Hundred Thousand Orphans vividly documents the war and orphanage environments experienced by thousands of traumatized Eritrean children and the long-term consequences their unique education—largely the egalitarian values inherent to the Eritrean culture—has on their ability to socially integrate into society as adults. Dr. Wolff applies his expertise as a psychiatrist and authority on child development to evaluate the effects of war and orphanage conditions on the development of Eritrea’s war orphans. In this insightful account, he documents the growth of these orphans over a thirty-year period, providing one of the most in-depth accounts of the effect war and conflict have on children. Dr. Wolff presents a strategy that successfully integrated hundreds of orphans into post-war society and provides it as a model for giving traumatized children hope for recovery and an opportunity to overcome destructive circumstances to heal. This is a framework that will have applications around the world in diverse situations concerning childhood development and trauma.