This project will provide trauma healing for thousands of children in Uganda who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and in many cases, also raped or sexually abused. We will train teachers, caregivers, and local leaders in trauma informed care and peer counseling, so they can break victim-perpetrator cycles of trauma and abuse and create a new legacy of healing and resilience for themselves and their communities.
Thousands of children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in southwest Uganda. Worse yet, many have become the targets of rape and sexual abuse. In the last few months alone, 10 children under 10 years old were raped in a community. Some have even contracted HIV from their perpetrators. Without disrupting the cycle of emotional trauma, vulnerability, and abuse, it will simply be passed along from community to community and generation to generation.
This project will train teachers, caregivers, and community leaders to become their own communities' mental and emotional health champions. They will learn culturally relevant, somatic and art based techniques that promote trauma recovery, resilience, and self-care. The local schools and rape crisis center will also receive technical and program support to launch formal healing programs in the community. This project is a partnership with Nyaka AIDS Orphan Project and Edja Foundation.
Long-term effect will be a decrease in symptoms of PTSD in the community, thereby reducing cases of physical and sexual violence and breaking cycles of vulnerability. Community leaders and survivors will be given tools that will transform their lives from victims, to survivors, to self-empowered healing activists. Given the ripple effect of healing trauma, we hope to impact not only the 47,000 community members served by our local NGO partner, but also their families and community members.
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