Training Ugandans in Trauma Informed Care

One of the challenges of our Healing Work is reaching folks who live in more remote areas, such as rural communities and refugee camps, that face challenges accessing our in person services. Our team in Uganda is committed to making this work accessible and far reaching.

To do this, we launched our first radio show in November of last year. The overwhelming response led to the creation of a second program, “Beyond Trauma is Healing,” which launched late this summer.

Through the radio show, our work has expanded to new communities far and wide. One listener reached out asking us to bring our programs to his community, leading to the training of 150 teachers and 500 community leaders. This training effort led to the creation of two monthly healing circles where participants can offer peer support to one another.

Participants pay visits to members of their community that are unable to make the in person circles due to age, disability, or other challenges, thus ensuring that every person  in their community has access to this work.

Your contributions allow us to continue to make this work accessible to Ugandan communities far and wide. With your support, our communities can continue to expand and magnify the work.

In Uganda, raising a child with a disability can be a guaranteed way for a mother to be relegated to lifelong poverty. Fathers will often abandon the family, leaving mothers to care for the needs of their children alone.

When Monica gave birth to a child with cerebral palsy, her husband left her to raise their children on her own. In her grief and shame, she cursed the universe, “Why, of all people, this was happening to me?” Then, she heard a voice: “If not you, then who?” In that moment, she chose to embrace the gift of her child. She later adopted a second child with cerebral palsy, who would become an empathetic companion to her son.

Without access to schools or services for children with special needs, most single mothers in Uganda remain at home, unemployed, so they can care for their children. This disparity inspired Monica to found the Basket Weavers Cooperative to empower women with skills to work from home and earn a sustainable living for their families.

The cooperative offers training and materials for mothers to weave baskets and make handicrafts for sale at local markets and hotels. The proceeds fund more materials and support the women and their families. The cooperative also provides CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation), a training offered by hospitals on how to support a child with a disability. Monica now shares her story with pride, to help others release the shame of struggling to raise children with disabilities.

It was at one of the hotels where Monica sells the women’s baskets where Brendah, our country director, met Monica and had the idea to sell her baskets to support the moms and their families, and our trauma healing work with the community.  

We are excited to announce that their beautiful baskets are now available to purchase on our Etsy Store. 

In March, Monica and the Basket Weavers attended Healing Together Uganda’s Trauma Healing training, together with 50+ other single mothers, widowed caregivers, and grandmothers.  During this emotional workshop, these brave women shared their stories, released their pain, and embraced their power to heal themselves, their families, and others in their community.

“The workshop helped the women understand very well how to forgive everyone who has ever done anything to their children,” Monica shared, “… and to accept their children as gifts the way they are.”

Thanks to your generosity, these women now have hope and love to give to their children, along with economic self sufficiency. You can purchase their beautiful baskets here.

Links:

• Our Etsy shop, where you can purchase baskets from Monica