Tai Po Fire Emergency Response
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To respond to these urgent needs, the Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) programme developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been introduced. This initiative equips adolescents and their caregivers with tools to build resilience, cope with distress, and strengthen family and community well-being.
Among the many children who joined the programme were Amal and Sarah, both 13 years old. At first, nothing seemed unusual — their initial assessments showed no history of suicide attempts. But by the third session, something changed. For the first time, they felt safe enough to reveal the truth: they had attempted to end their lives three times. No one knew. Not their parents. Not their teachers. They had carried this secret alone. While EASE does not specifically work with adolescents experiencing suicidal thoughts, the skills they had gained to identify and express their emotions through this intervention enabled Amal and Sarah to share their darkest thoughts.
Slowly, Amal and Sarah began to heal. Their thoughts of suicide faded. Months later, the change was clear: they became top students in their classes. Their teachers noticed. Their community noticed. Even mothers began speaking about the EASE programme with admiration, recognising how deeply it was touching children’s lives by offering them a safe space to release their pain.
Looking ahead, the programme will expand to 34 villages across the West Bank, reaching over 1,000 adolescents and more than 1,000 caregivers, providing the skills to manage emotions and support one another.
A Safe Space to Heal
In the West Bank, children and adolescents grow up under constant psychological pressure. Many carry invisible wounds — stress, anxiety, and trauma — that, if left unaddressed, can leave deep scars well into adulthood.To respond to these urgent needs, the Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) programme developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been introduced. This initiative equips adolescents and their caregivers with tools to build resilience, cope with distress, and strengthen family and community well-being.
Among the many children who joined the programme were Amal and Sarah, both 13 years old. At first, nothing seemed unusual — their initial assessments showed no history of suicide attempts. But by the third session, something changed. For the first time, they felt safe enough to reveal the truth: they had attempted to end their lives three times. No one knew. Not their parents. Not their teachers. They had carried this secret alone. While EASE does not specifically work with adolescents experiencing suicidal thoughts, the skills they had gained to identify and express their emotions through this intervention enabled Amal and Sarah to share their darkest thoughts.
Slowly, Amal and Sarah began to heal. Their thoughts of suicide faded. Months later, the change was clear: they became top students in their classes. Their teachers noticed. Their community noticed. Even mothers began speaking about the EASE programme with admiration, recognising how deeply it was touching children’s lives by offering them a safe space to release their pain.
Looking ahead, the programme will expand to 34 villages across the West Bank, reaching over 1,000 adolescents and more than 1,000 caregivers, providing the skills to manage emotions and support one another.
