Addressing trauma and PTSD among the most vulnerable amongst us

“Even if I tell you my life, what will you do about it?

… I have been asked these questions before and nobody has come to our help. We have never been helped….

I have been living this bad life, and many people come and say they will do everything, and nobody has been doing it. And not only are many people in Sudan living in these conditions, but all these people come here, and nothing has been happening for all this time.”

– ‘Mary’, in Kenya, after fleeing from Sudan.  Excerpt from Out of Exile: Narratives from the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan.

Hi everyone,

Refugees often have good reason to be suspicious. When violation has become commonplace and even those offering help have become a source of betrayal, being willing to take the risk to trust again does not come easily.

This is one of the many challenges we face in seeking to offer trauma recovery to refugees living in San Diego. The healing process requires a sense of subjective safety and trust in the one who offers to help.

We need the local refugee leaders on board with our efforts before approaching the larger refugee community.

Phase 2 of Trauma Recovery for Refugees will be Educating Refugee Leaders About Trauma, PTSD and Recovery. We want local refugee leaders to have a firsthand experience of what it will be like in our future trauma recovery program. It will be abbreviated, yet offer educational material about trauma, combined with an experiential aspect to teach them Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), the same body-centered method of recovery we will be using in the actual 6-month program.

In order to launch Phase 2 this fall, we need your help. We need to raise $3300 to educate refugee leaders about trauma.

• $550 will cover the cost of 1 session for 15 refugee leaders. 1/6 of our goal.
• $220 will cover the cost of training 1 refugee leader.
• $100 will cover a fifth of the cost of creating the trauma curriculum.
• $50 will cover the venue fee for each session.
• $20 will provide 1 yoga mat for 1 refugee leader.

Can you help us with this?

All of the details (about our plan, budget, why) can be found on our website.

Your contribution, large or small would be a big help. We are grateful for your continued interest in and support of our efforts.

Warmly,

Barbara & Anshul
Founders, Living Ubuntu
http://livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005

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Educating Refugee Leaders About Trauma, PTSD & Recovery

Phase 2 of Living Ubuntu’s Trauma Recovery Program for Refugees

More than 80% of East African refugees currently living in San Diego suffer from symptoms of trauma & PTSD (nightmares, chronic anxiety, depression etc.)

Services for refugees remain extremely limited.  What can we do to help?

[Ubuntu] n.
Every human being truly becomes a human by means of relationships with other human being.