Day 2

Today we had our first training with pastors, teachers and workers within the community at a church in Qwa Qwa. There were 45 participants that listened to the two presentations, the first on Domestic Violence and the second on Trauma within the Family; they also participated in small discussion groups with team members. Lastly, we provided individual counseling for those who signed up desiring to talk with a team member.

There is a hunger for education and a desire to know how to better help those within the community who have experienced trauma. The small groups allowed the team members and the participants to share their thoughts concerning the issues presented, to brainstorm how this can be worked on within the community, and also to share individual experiences and ways that each person can work on these things in their own lives. We found that when the groups were mixed male and female that the women, for the most part, did not feel comfortable speaking about the issues, but after breaking into separate male-female groups there was great breakthrough and movement towards solutions for the community. Individual team members during the debriefing, upon returning to the campus, were excited over what occurred during the group sessions.

The individual sessions brought many mixed emotions for team members. There was a general feeling of frustration for those who needed interpreters to counsel due to the interpreters' summarizing. This removed the counselor's ability to hear word choice and emphasis for certain parts of what was being said. Even with this frustration there was much work done for each individual who sought help even with only one session. Overall there was also a sense of hope, excitement and anticipation as to where these sessions will take the individuals we counseled. We may have only been able to touch the surface of some issues. but we were able to plant seeds of change that will bloom with time into healing and movement towards better psychological health.

We each came back with group and individual experiences that not only provided change for those we worked with but for us as well. There was an expansion of our skills, our hearts and our desire to continue helping each of the groups and individuals we come in contact with. This is only the beginning of the impact we hope to make within the Besotho community in the two weeks we have here in South Africa.