Trauma Counseling for Child Survivors of War

Over the last three months, I Live Again Uganda has provided counseling to over 400 refugee children.  Each one has their own story of how they came to Uganda from South Sudan.  Some came with their parents, some came with their siblings and some came alone. 

For children that have come alone or are with siblings, they have now become the parent.  They get up early, clean their homes, wash clothes, prepare food and then, if they can make it on time - they will go to school.  Life as a refugee child (especially without parents or guardians) can be extremely difficult.  Not only are they having to deal with the day to day survivlal in the refugee settlement - but they are also still recovering from severe trauma from their experience of war in South Sudan.

Thanks to the support of our donors, we are helping these children find peace after war.  Each child has a chance to share their story through drawing.  When they draw of their challenging experiences before coming to Uganda the images usually portray violence, conflict and war.  For children, drawing can be so much easier to express and share pain.  Sometimes, children don't have the words to express their pain, feel safe enough to share it or its simply too painful to express.  We also encourage the children to draw images of hope - of their dreams for the future.  Some of their drawings of hope are of going to school in Uganda, becoming a doctor, reading, praying and beyond.  Each one is regaining hope for their future.

I Live Again Uganda has been working in partnership with a school within the refugee settlement to provide counseling programs on a regular basis.  This not only includes art therapy programs, but group counseling, games and one on one counseling support.   Good things are happening in the lives of those that are coming to our counseling programs.  The teachers at the school have shared that the students that have come to I Live Again Uganda's Counselign Program are different.  They shared that their behavior has greatly improved, they are more disciplined in doing their school work, they are coming to school more regularly and they are working together as classmates so much better!  

We are so thankful to you for supporting this important work.  We still have so many more children to get to here.  We can't do this without you.  Thanks to you, child refugees from South Sudan are gaining hope.