TYCL International – an End Violence partner – has published the artwork of nearly 100 children and young people in a new ebook: Overcome COVID-19. This ebook is just one aspect of TYCL’s ongoing mental health programming for young people, which works through virtual “camps” in the United States and India.

By adapting each camp to the local context of participants, TYCL engages children in age-appropriate programming to build resilience, promote creative expression, and provide a safe space for children to interact amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Creative arts promote positive mental health and builds resilience among young people,” said Siva Mathiyazhagan, the Founder of TYCL International. “This can help them better understand and process their lived experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Countless studies have shown the way mental health services – including psychosocial support – can play an immeasurable role in preventing violence after trauma. Such studies make TYCL’s programming incredibly important.

In India, the results of this camp were published through Overcome COVID-19 to amplify participants’ voices and expand the reach of their creative expression. During the virtual camp, over 250 children and young people submitted photos, drawings, paintings, poems and stories about their experiences with COVID-19. Seventy of those pieces were chosen for final publication.

In the United States, this camp was specifically geared toward children and youth of color from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. From August 10-14, young people between the ages of 13 and 17 were given a platform to speak up about their experiences – both about the civil rights movement rippling through the United States and the pandemic keeping them out of school and far from their friends and families. They also participated in different creative activities, such as painting, spoken word, music and photography, to express their emotions during an increasingly difficult time.

“My camp experience was amazing,” said a 15-year-old participant from New York City. “With so much going on growing up as a teenager, in addition to COVID-19 and the racial justice movements, this camp really helped my mental health.”

During the programme’s launch, TYCL also co-created a new model for equitable collaboration with art teachers, community organisations, and others in the creative space to empower and support children and youth of color. Read more about this new collaboration here.