More Training!!

Its Tuesday 21st April - its 6.15am..........

Yesterday we finished the ASO training. A wonderful success- the last day we spent entirely working with the kids on their skills to become good facilitators of community based arts projects with other trauma survivors. They really are living up to their name "Hope for Tomorrow". This morning I wake up and my eyes are glued shut! Its 6am we are meant to go to Panzi hospital to continue training the staff there..... I am so tired I can hardly move. The last few days have been a constant process of straining to understand language, verbal, cultural, body...you name it. Silvia and I have been doing a crash course in attempting to understand this very different culture. I have been deeply immersed in understanding how to empower the people I am working with. I want to stay in bed, Silvia is very kind to me. We crawl around the room- preparing for another day. I can hardly think - I have been taxing my brain so much with my attempts to speak French, Swahili and to keep focused in amongst the disarray.

Bukavu is chaotic at very least, and the country is in disarray- and let’s face it there is trauma everywhere you look. Let’s make no mistake the genocide continues here in DRC- the Femicide is here. We are coming to understand what the ravages of war and colonialism have done to this part of Africa. We are seeing how the awful war and brutality of the FDLR are causing the very fabric of the society to fall apart- and yet in admits this unbelievable destruction is a resiliency.

Last night we met with Christine Schuler Deschryver who is the Director of the City of Joy project- funded by V-Day and Unicef. She also told us about the most current atrocities that women are experiencing- The FDLR are not only raping, but torturing women in no end of brutal and horrifying ways. We learn that the newest issue that is being seen is women who have had petrol poured onto their vaginas and then set fire to- and the having the fire put out so that there are nothing but burns and open wounds there. I can hardly stomach this- the level of senseless de humanized brutality is the hall mark of genocide behavior- We are aware- THE GENECIDE CONTINUES - and we are also aware that we must not be in denial of this-

With that said we are now off to Panzi on the ever challenging potholed roads. I have had little time to prepare for the training. All I know is that I am going to see if I can give a context for the social assistants to understand that the creative arts therapies are just that - therapies and not just kid’s games. I know form working with them last week that they will not respond to my words- when I sit and talk with them they are like blank faces- totally disinterested- if I get them into action then everything changes. One thing we for sure have learnt about the Congolese is that they are incredibly playful, and at times very dramatic, and expressive. That they love to dance and sing- in fact they are a culture who naturally have the creative arts as integral therapies. In realizing this I feel more relaxed- there is no convincing to do here- only a chance to provide some framework for the social assistants to understand what it is that they are already doing.


2 hours later- we are all laughing, dancing, singing, stretching, breathing and sharing connection- is there anything else to be said!! These women are amazing they deal with the traumatized women every day- they hear the stories on the intake and they know all that is happening with the women who are being treated here. Esther, Stiffa, another Esther, Rose and Sara are women who are 'doers' they are not intellectually trained- they are hearts of gold doing this work- and they want to know what works- and what can help these women feel better- and mores to the point how they can manage to keep their own spirits alive in the face of such wide scale atrocities.

We all agree that singing even with the most traumatized women is a good option- so we explore together all the ways they can work with women who have just arrived and who are in an acute amount of psychological and physical pain. We start together to create a continuum of therapeutic care- exploring the different needs that the patients have - at different points in their stay at Panzi. It’s exciting to be developing a language together. The social assistants are beginning to understand that everything that they do with the women is a kind of therapy. And I am learning about how to contextualize therapy within a Congolese framework.

After the training I am so exhausted- all I can think about is going back to bed at very least removing any outside stimulation- I am full. Silvia notices my overload and suggests that I go back to the house for a couple of hours- we have to complete profile interviews with "Hope for Tomorrow" this afternoon- this is a very important part of our project. Grateful for the sanctuary of the house I crawl into the bedroom. Pick up my book and lose myself in another world for an hour. Silvia ever the intrepid goes off into the madness of Bukavu again to sort out money, and other important logistics. I am so glad that I am not alone here!

Our time here is coming to a close—we have only to go and see ASO facilitate the drumming tomorrow at Panzi and then one last training with the staff- ……..

Thinkingof you all....and being grateful that you all are safe.....
Elayne (EDL)