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PROGRAMME NEWS
Construction of the main project
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Women’s Support Programme
The Women’s Support Program is a project aimed at addressing the needs of women who suffered physical and emotional trauma during the war in BiH. Specifically, women who were victims of unspeakable atrocities (gang-rapes, tortures, closure in concentration camps, loss of their family members and homes). In the war of 1992-1995 women were singled out as a target for specially organized and systematic atrocities. The aggressors were conscious that destroying the lives of mothers means destroying lives of children and the family as a unit. By damaging women, who are pillars of families, they attempted to destroy entire communities.
Objectives
The overall aim of the proposed project is to contribute to the process of healing and empowering Bosnian women. In broader terms, the project will contribute to increasing conflict prevention activities in BiH, securing human rights of victims of torture and empowering Bosnian women.
These aims will be realized through implementation of various support programs for women who suffered the hostilities of war in Sarajevo, Gorazde and surrounding villages. The objective is to improve their physical and mental health and to eliminate conditions which have resulted from war trauma. The healing process will empower women to re-establish their position within their families and communities and therefore contribute to a healthy society. This will be provided through care, support, and professional therapeutic practice by trained complementary therapists and allopathic professionals alike.
Women will be taught and shown self development skills such as relaxation, yoga, food management, exercise etc. This will ideally enable them to take more responsibility for their mental and physical health and give them skills to help themselves and allow them to put these skills into practice.
The program seeks to strengthen community bonds and build confidence among the participants of the program. The objective is to create a safe, pleasant and welcoming environment, where women will feel cared for, listened to and looked after. Women will become active members of civil society and will be encouraged to initiate group activities aimed at enhancing their position in community.
A parallel objective is to create a strong Bosnian team of professional therapists to care for the victims of trauma and torture in BiH. They will complete a training program which includes both seminars given by international experts and an internship monitored by the experienced therapists working within the WSP. Clients of the Program will have the opportunity to get involved with civil society activities in cooperation with other victim’s and women's organizations, this will be established at an early stage. This will also ensure that women do not feel loneliness and isolation after treatment. Care will be ongoing.
Description of activities
There will be a core team of two international therapists who will be responsible for the treatments offered in the Program.
The participants will be primarily selected from the Foundation for Concentration Camps Survivors members. The remaining women will be found among the participants of RDC’s witness support program.
Priority will be given to those who are financially challenged, isolated, without transport, and widowed. Further selection will be determined through the initial consultation where the severity of current conditions will be examined. The whole selection process is designed in order to ensure that the participating women are indeed those who are in urgent need of treatment and are dealing with unresolved war traumas. Treatments will be free.
Methodology
The methodology to be employed in this project can be divided into two categories:
- individual programs of emotional and physical health support
- group seminars and community building activities
The individual therapies are essentially body based. Each therapist will offer specific skills which will complement one another. These include: therapeutic massage, craniosacraltherapy, homeopathy and naturopathy. They are all non-invasive and supporting the innate self-healing body/mind mechanism. All these therapies have been adopted as highly effective methods of dealing with trauma particularly due to their subtlety. They are aimed at the achievement of long-term health results rather that immediate treatment of superficial symptoms.
Apart from the individual treatment and professional consultation, each woman will be invited to participate in group activities aimed at providing them with self development skills. Group activities will consist of self-help seminars and community-based activities. Various seminars will be provided for WSP participants will introducing the women with new skills like yoga, stretching, relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, preparation of herbal remedies, healthy diet management, basic massage techniques etc. This will allow the participants to take greater responsibility for their own well-being and to an extent continue the healing processes by themselves within their own home and community environment.
The healing value of group dynamics will be applied through series of group activities based on sharing of skills. These will include arts and crafts, story-telling, singing, fitness, cooking and reconnecting women with their traditional community activities which were completely abolished during the war. These will be led by both therapists and facilitators from within and outside the program.
Associated organizations will be given an opportunity to present their activities and get the Program’s participants involved in their work. Women will be encouraged to carry on with the community meetings outside of the Program, start support groups and take up small initiatives for further development and enhancement of life.
Mobile clinic for Goražde region
In order to continue with the therapies initiated during the RDC pilot project as well as to provide more women from Goražde and the surrounding areas with necessary treatment, a mobile clinic will be organized. Every second month, the clinic will establish itself in the premises of RDC Podrinje for one week. Full treatments will be provided to the women from both the towns and nearby villages. Special attention will be given to the women who live in the local refugee camp and those from the surrounding villages. If it appears to be necessary, some women will be attended to in their homes or in the refugee camp. The therapies undertaken in Gorazde will be exactly the same as these in Sarajevo and will be carried out by two therapists initially. They will also include the community day designed for the group work.
Training for local therapists
One of the pillars for sustainability of the program is proper and extensive training of treatment protocols for posttraumatic stress disorder for local therapists. This enables transfer of knowledge and the long term continuation of the therapies will not be dependent on the presence of the international staff. A group of already practicing local therapists will be selected (homeopaths, psychologists, physiotherapists naturopaths, massage therapists) in Goražde and in Sarajevo to undergo training programs designed in order to enhance their skills in supporting women in need of treatment.
The training program will consist of two elements: theory gained during the seminars and practice carried on in the program. They will be conducted by acclaimed professionals from abroad and from Bosnia-Herzegovina. They will provide theoretical input related to trauma treatment. The theory inputs provided during the seminars will be complemented by the practical part of the training carried on in the program itself.
The important aspect of this part of the project is not only training the therapists thus creating sustainability, but also building up a local community of professionals treating war trauma. This encourages the exchange of information, support within the group and ongoing improvement of skills.
For more information about the project please contact Jagoda Gregulska
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