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On World Mental Health Day, we look at how Trócaire is supporting mental health projects across the world. Learn how we support children in conflict zones, women affected by sexual violence, and other projects that help people recover from trauma and violence.
Maya (11) in the playground of the 'Safe Haven' centre. Photo: Simon Walsh
Imagine if your loved ones were affected by the horrors of war, were forced to flee their homes and become refugees, had experienced torture or other human rights abuses, or had experienced sexual violence. In many of the countries that Trócaire works in, people are severely affected by trauma because of these types of incidents.
To mark World Mental Health Day 2022, we look at five inspiring projects around the world and powerful personal stories where we are supporting, caring and nurturing people’s wellbeing. These projects help people to cope with trauma, to live a life of dignity, to recover, to heal, to seek justice. They are made possible through your generous support to Trócaire’s work.
1. A ‘Safe haven’ for Syrian refugee children to play
Eleven-year-old Maya plays freely on the swings, laughing with her siblings. She has a big grin on her face and it is clear that she feels relaxed and safe.
Here, in the ‘Safe Haven’ centre in Bar Elias, Lebanon, the war in Syria and the hardships her family has endured are distant memories.
Maya, who featured on the 2020 Trócaire box, is a refugee from Syria. Her family has been pushed from their land as a result of civil war, and they have fled to safety into Lebanon.
The Syrian conflict, now in its 11th year, has resulted in huge amounts of trauma. Half the population have been forced from their homes. Almost 5 million children have been born in Syria in the last decade knowing only war. As a result, over half of refugees have experienced a severe emotional disorder.
Maya enjoys doing art activities with her sister Amira (11), and brother Farid (13) at the ‘Safe Haven Centre’ provided by Trócaire’s partner SAWA. Photo : Garry Walsh / Trócaire.
Trócaire’s local partner SAWA is providing Maya and her community with this ‘Safe Haven’ centre where children can play in the playground, do art and attend classes. It feels like a breath of fresh air to enter the centre, which has a wide open playground area surrounded by flowers.
The children attending the centre enjoy playing on the swings, clambering up the climbing frame and spinning around in the playground. The playground uses colourful materials to help children feel safe and relaxed, so they can escape the hardships of daily life in the refugee camps and have fun with other children.
2. Mental Health Support in Gaza
Hala Al-Nakhalah (20) received training on women’s empowerment which was funded by Trócaire. Credit: Women’s Affairs Centre
More than two million people live in Gaza, an enclave bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt which is 41km long and 10km wide.
In the last 14 years, Hamas and Israel have fought four violent wars in Gaza (2008-09, 2012, 2014 and 2021) leading to the deaths of thousands of civilians, destroyed homes, and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage to infrastructure such as roads, electricity, sewerage and water-treatment plants.
During the Israeli aggression, the children and women are among the groups that suffered the most psychological harm.
Trócaire’s local partner in Gaza, the Women’s Affairs Centre, provides a safe space for women and children who are suffering. The centre provides a space where women can share experiences, receive support and training on gender-based violence.
3. Helping survivors of gender-based violence in Guatemala
Some of the Maya Q'eqchi' women of Sepur Zarco in Guatemala who experienced sexual violence and sexual slavery at the hands of the military in the 1980s. After fighting for justice for decades, a landmark legal ruling in 2016 found two military commanders guilty of committing crimes against humanity. Photo: Mark Stedman / Trócaire.
A high proportion of human rights abuses have been committed against land and territorial defenders, and against women in Guatemala. During the 36-year-long Guatemalan civil war (1960 – 1996), indigenous women were systematically raped and enslaved by the military.
Trócaire partner ECAP provides psychosocial support to survivors of human rights violations and supports women to break their silence and be able to name their crime.
With Trócaire and ECAP’s help, 15 women survivors fought for justice at the highest court of Guatemala. The ground-breaking case resulted in the conviction of two former military officers of crimes against humanity and granted 18 reparation measures to the women survivors and their community. The women are now waiting to experience justice, including education for the children of their community, access to land, a health-care clinic and poverty-reduction measures.
4. ‘Listening points’ in DR Congo for survivors of Gender Based Violence
Pascaline Kabagene (43), Ayesha Machosi (37), and Jose Ngongo (61), members of the Protection Committee in the village of Butiaba, Ituri province, DR Congo. Photo: Garry Walsh / Trócaire
From the outside, it isn’t much to look at. Yet a small hut in a remote village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a lifeline to many women who are affected by violence here. This ‘listening point’ provides a safe space for survivors of violence to seek support.
Ituri province of DRC has seen some of the worst human rights abuses of Congo’s long running conflicts. This has included large-scale massacres and widespread sexual violence.
Gender inequality remains a deep-rooted issue in DRC. When women challenge these norms, gender-based violence is often used as a tactic against them. Sexual violence has also been used as a military tactic by armed forces.
“There are so many cases of violence against women in this village,” said Katembo Bernard who volunteers at the listening point. “It makes me shocked, it makes me really angry.”
Katembo supports survivors of gender-based violence in Butiaba village who come to the listening point. Together with other volunteers, he helps survivors to seek medical, legal and psychological support. These supports can make a huge difference for survivors as they seek recovery, healing and justice.
5. Healing trauma after Genocide in Rwanda
Uwizeyimana Immaculee (54) together with Nunigantama Vianney (60) who was one of the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, who murdered members of Immaculee’s own family. Photo: Josephine Lamb / Trócaire.
“I couldn’t understand why he would be released. I went mad,” said Uwizeyimana Immaculee about the family friend who murdered members of her own family. “I was traumatised. I lost hope in life for a long time.”
Up to one million people were killed in just 100 days during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. A Trócaire study revealed that a staggering 80% of Rwandans were traumatised following the genocide. Over the last 27 years, Trócaire has provided vital trauma counselling and reconciliation programmes that support healing.
Immaculee began to abuse drugs to try and block out the pain of what had happened to her. Vianney was sent to prison. Later he would be released, yet he struggled with his own mental health, contemplating suicide.
Through a Trócaire project, both of them joined a ‘unity and reconciliation group’ and ultimately reconciled. It took over three years of hard work to build trust and understanding through group activities, meetings and mediation.
Ultimately forgiveness has come, allowing them both to move past the horror of the past, and remarkably, to become friends.
