Trauma and children: New project at medica mondiale
The sun shines cautiously through the trees, bathing the meadow in Bujumbura, Burundi, in an early, friendly light. It is the perfect place to greet the day with yoga exercises. The day ahead will be full of new tasks that the women in the Congolese organisation PAIF want to tackle. Together with trauma experts from the region and speakers from medica mondiale, they are taking part in a training session on a project that specifically focuses on children.
Huge local demand
In recent years, partner organisations have increasingly made medica mondiale aware of the immense need in their regions to provide better support for young people. So medica mondiale is now developing new concepts for working with children and adolescents who, for example, had to witness (wartime) violence against their parents, were born of rape, or experience violence committed by their traumatised parents. Then there are the street children who are constantly exposed to risks of violence.
“In Burundi, we surveyed and analysed the specific needs and case studies from our partner organisations. Participants then took part in practical exercises, such as practicing how to identify, name and care for feelings together with the children. In addition, there were tips on self-protection and self-care to avoid secondary traumatisation.”
In the long term, a network of specialists is to be trained to provide adequate and professional support for children and young people in crisis areas. The multi-year project is being supported by the Dr Renate Dill Foundation.
