by Whitney Barthel posted in Parenting

The shocking images look like the setting of a post-apocalyptic movie. Amongst the wasteland that is Mosul, Iraq, men, women, and children are struggling to merely survive. While civilians dodge fighters from terrorist group ISIS, they must also struggle to find food as the city endures a famine. This is what it looks like.

In the post below, I have paired pictures taken by photojournalist Kainoa Little with stories from other Mosul survivors.
In June CNN interviewed a family of four newly saved by Iraqi troops. The mother told CNN of her time in hiding as ISIS moves into new parts of Mosul, Iraq. She speaks of going hungry so that her children would have enough to eat of the only food available to them -- flour and water. Not only for the children's survival, but also so they wouldn?t cry out in hunger and put the family in risk of being found.
Sadly, this horror story is considered a happy ending. I am sure this family lived in terrifying, unimaginable conditions for goodness-knows how long. However; unlike most families, the mom, dad, and two children were all rescued alive.
This is the hard choice Iraqi civilians face: hide with the chance of being found, or escape with the chance of being ambushed. Either way, there is no question that children -- both staying and fleeing -- have witnessed unspeakable cruelty at the hands of ISIS.

One young boy was able to escape west Mosul with his family and is now living in a refugee camp ...