Today, we’re excited to launch a campaign to increase our impact with former child soldiers: for a mobile trauma counseling center.
Building a trauma counseling center has been a dream of ours for years. The former child soldiers and war survivors we serve have severe trauma. They were forced to commit atrocities by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, from killing their neighbors and family members to witnessing friends being killed.
The levels of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are extremely high in northern Uganda, from 12% to over 50%. And suicide rates where we work are the highest in the country, more than double the national average.
Our trauma counseling projects with former child soldiers have had tremendous success to date:
- Reducing PTSD nightmares. 95% of former child soldiers reported having fewer to no more traumatic nightmares after participating in trauma counseling and community theater projects.
- Reducing stigma. 98% of former child soldiers reported having better relationships with their communities, many of whom were stigmatized because of their abductions.
We now want to build on that success and take it to the next level. A mobile trauma counseling center will enable us to do that. The center will help us:
- Reach the most vulnerable people. The most traumatized people have difficulty leaving their villages, so the mobile center will provide counseling very close to where they live.
- Train community trauma counselors. We will be able to train local caregivers in trauma healing and counseling, who are the first point of contact for people with PTSD in communities.
We decided to create a mobile center rather than building a permanent structure because a) otherwise the most remote, neediest people wouldn’t be able to get help; b) it saves on costs.
Meet some of the people who have received counseling from GRG.
Betty was abducted by the LRA rebels at age 13 and raped before getting her first period. She was forced to be a child soldier and sex slave to a commander for 9 years. She finally escaped but had to hide among dead bodies to conceal herself, further traumatizing her. “It haunts me to this day, and I’m still not able to conceive,” she said.
Betty was on the verge of suicide when she joined a GRG trauma counseling project in which 40 former former child soldiers like her are receiving counseling and becoming counselors themselves.
“But now I’ve become a trauma counselor with GRG. It has made me feel special,” she said.
“Becoming a counselor has given me perspective, and now I can relate to other people with the same trauma and help them. I’m also farming with the GRG group. We also sing and dance together. I’m getting used to seeing things from a different perspective,” she said.
Read more about Betty’s story.
Please consider donating to support our dream of a mobile trauma counseling center. Our total budget for the counseling center is $20,000.
All donations are tax-deductible in the U.S.
Grassroots Reconciliation Group 