Helping Girls and Young Women in Bujumbura Slum

March-April 2019 trauma healing workshops report

Two workshops on trauma healing were done at in FWA training room on March 22-24, 2019 and April 23-25, 2019. Participants were women survivors of gender-based violence. The total number of participants to the two workshops was 40. In each group, an average of 15 people was able to share their sad stories.

Testimonies

My name is Jeanine. I have five children, and this is my sixth pregnancy. My husband has been abusing me. In order to survive I have been working in fields where they are growing rice. As I work had and that I don’t find enough food, I was found  with tuberculosis. When I told it to my husband, he said that this is a sign that I am HIV positive. “I don’t want to be infected too”, he added. One day when I was coming from a clinic medical consultation, I found no one home. My husband had left our renting house. He went with all my five kids. I was left with only these clothes I’m wearing.  The owner of the house had closed it. The, I started asking for people to give me a place where to send only one night. People were so tired because of  me that I spend  now my nights in toilets. I’m suffering very much my friends. As I have tuberculosis, I don’t have strength to work in fields so that I can survive. Thanks a lot for this workshop. This is a great opportunity to share what has been hidden in my heart. 

“My name is Alice. I’m 19 years old. My parents got divorced when I was 12 years old. One day at night, my father wanted to rape me. He brought me in his bedroom and unclothed me. I felt so afraid that I told him that I wanted to go to the toilet. He didn’t accept, and we went together to the toilet. He came with a machete. When, he opened the door of our house, I ran away. He ran after me, but he failed to catch me. Then, I went to live with my aunt. Later, I became a house girl. My boss raped me. He was put in jail. And because his wife was afraid, she gave me BIF300,000 so that her husband can be released. After few days, I lost my job. As my father was continuing to threaten me, I left the countryside and came here in Bujumbura. I got married. When I got a baby, my husband married another wife. As I had anywhere to go, I remained in the house. This means that we were two wives in the same house. My husband was always beating me until I left him. Now, I’m trying to survive together with my child. Thanks a lot for this workshop because I got this opportunity to share my sad story.

Lessons learned

• HROC has to go beyond trauma healing workshops: medical care and socio-economic empowerment for GBV survivors
• HROC facilitators need more skills such as mediation and AVP
• FWA will need a women shelter in the future