How would you feel if you lost your home and had to fl ee from your own country? Imagine losing some, or all, of your family either as a direct result of fi ghting, or indirectly through illness and disease. You might have to work to support your family or fi ght and kill other people just to survive. And how can you go to school if it’s being used as an army command outpost, and all the books have been destroyed?
This is the reality for many children and their families in the world. Today, children are growing up with war – the consequences of which they’ll live with for the rest of their lives.
Jenny Matthews
1. In your own words, explain why Jenny Matthews became a photographer and what she believes she
has achieved.
2. In Children Growing Up With War, Jenny wants to impress on her readers the impact of war on children.
Explain what technique she uses to do this.
3. From reading this introduction, what three adjectives would you use to describe Jenny
Matthews?
Jenny once said in an interview, ‘When my luggage gets lost, I try to be calm and philosophical, to remember all the families I have met who have lost everything’. Write one paragraph in answer to the question Jenny asks: How would you feel if you lost your home and had to fl ee from your own country? What problems do you think you would face and what do you think you would fi nd hardest to deal with?
