Hi everyone,

Floods in Colorado, Jersey Shore boardwalk in ashes, Naval Yard shooting, chemical weapons in Syria, ongoing genocide in Sudan… I could go on and on… local and global… and that’s just last week.

We live in a world of extreme natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, random violence, and intractable mass atrocities. The accompanying result: ever-growing numbers of traumatized communities and displaced populations.

For those paying attention to these situations, there is also a very real risk of vicarious trauma.

Unresolved traumatic experiences detract from compassion and pursuit of the common good; they increase self-preoccupation and risk of violence. We can’t afford to ignore the fact that our world is full of traumatized societies.

Hearing all of this at once can feel overwhelming, yet, it is also ultimate opportunity.

It’s time for change in this world, on many different levels. In order to address mass global trauma, our priorities and our paradigms must dramatically change.

We have been working in collaboration with local refugee organizations, licensed psychotherapists and university faculty for over a year now, planning out the stages of how to bring a completely different model of trauma recovery into the refugee communities of San Diego.

We have everything in place to launch Trauma Recovery for East African Refugees in 2014, including the ability to conduct the much needed research to document its effectiveness. If successfully enacted, it is a model that could easily be replicated elsewhere. The only thing we lack is the funding.

We are starting with a fundraiser, Eyewitness to Genocide: The Journey of Carl Wilkens — An event to highlight trauma, refugees & recovery.

 Your attendance at this event would mean a great deal to us. All details are below.

Thank you for staying engaged,

Barbara English
Founder & Executive Director, Living Ubuntu
http://livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005

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

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Eyewitness to Genocide: The Journey of Carl Wilkens

An event to highlight trauma, refugees & recovery

Carl Wilkens, former head of Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) in Rwanda, was the only American to remain in Rwanda when the genocide began in 1994.

I can still hear very clearly the sound of hoes thwacking into the earth… the men swinging them were not gardening, they were digging up mass graves…
Take a moment to try and put yourself in the shoes of the family members and friends who had loved ones taken from them. Surviving is more than just staying alive; surviving is learning how to live again.

Sunday, November 3 2013
4–7pm

St. Mark Presbyterian Church
2200 San Joaquin Hills Road
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Get tickets »

Silent auction     ✶      Great food      ✶     Community booths
This event will benefit Trauma Recovery for East African Refugees in San Diego.

Find out more at http://livingubuntu.org/events

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