What are we creating?

Well I've just returned home from what was a really good week back in Colombo, where we held a Psycho-Social Support (PSS) Workshop. After 2 years of Community trauma counselling there, the local team saw the need to continue supporting communities emotionally beyond the trauma of the tsunami but in general life issues.

There are so many reflections i could give but the thing i wanted to write about is an eternal question within development circles that came up a lot this week...On our first day we asked the group, what are your hopes for your community? And the response that hit me was.. "to change the receiving mentality of our community"...The sheer amount of money and material aid poured into the tsunami response has changed communities, and i would argue not in a healthy or sustainable way.

On the other hand, during our workshop we spent a couple of afternoons in IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps just outside Colombo that had been hit by the tsunami and it must have been one of the poorest tsunami communities i've visited. My heart was really broken by the stories of a number of the families we chatted to. A young lady our group visited really impacted upon all of us. Her husband had recently gone to prison and now she lives in the camp with her son who is 3 and she is 5 months pregnant. She told of how her husband had never been in trouble before the tsunami but he had started hanging out with people that were not good for him since. She shared of how her son cries for food and the support of her neighbours who are now helping feed them. Compared to areas in the south i've been to previously such as Hikadduwa, this area seems to have recieved very little assistance at all in the last 2 1/2 years. The camp was at the back of a buddist temple and the houses were very simple and life there still very temporary.

So where do we find the balance between material assistance and remaining true to the belief that these communities do have capacity within to collectively change thier situation? Whilst the communities maybe not able to change the hard employment situation that they face, and the material aid, liveihood programs, mobile clinics that other areas have would all provide huge benefits to that community, there is also a lot they themselves can do to improve life there in the camp...But the later often takes a bit more time, and time journeying with people, to show them that they can infact bring about change themselves and hope for a better future.

Community Counselling - Pakistan

Claire Campbell and Alma Acub (team mates) went to Pakistan last week to do a Community Counselling Workshop in communities affected by the earthquake...Here is Claire on her experience there...

“I was working in the shop. After the earthquake I rushed home. On the way I saw a school where many children had died. There were community people pulling the bodiesof children out of the rubble. I could see that they were working hard. I went and got water for them to drink”. (In the Muslim faith it is considered an act of grace to give water to another person).


An initial exploratory visit invited by the Pakistan territory in December 06 had determined that the communities affected by the earthquake would benefit from a holistic response to their needs arising from the disaster. That is, a response that included physical, mental and emotional considerations. During the initial visit it had become clear that psychological and psychosocial influences were impeding the rate of recovery within communities.

Experience with the 04 tsunami had demonstrated that a community counselling approach whereby local people are supported and encouraged to counsel and be there for each other, as their greatest and sustained strength is an effective way to facilitate community and individual healing around psychosocial issues and influences all other areas of their lives.

Consequently, the Pakistan territory invited the regional team to return to conduct a workshop with community leaders in community counselling processes.

The week clearly demonstrated the principles of integrated mission - healing grace within every community and every heart whatever the faith background.

We included in our discussions the issue of faith. We were aware that this could be a sensitive issue among people particularly if being raised by people coming from a Christian organization. We firmly believed however, that faith is one of the key foundations of any community and is something that should be part of any discussion around community healing. We discussed with the Insan team (local NGO) before meeting with the community the best way to phrase and raise the faith issue for discussion. It turned out to be a pivotal point of discussions, with the participants happily talking about the strength their faith gave them, the way in which their faith inspired them to help others after the earthquake and how their faith continues to sustain them "God gave us strength, we must use it". The fact that we as facilitators were from a Christian background was not a hindrance and indeed appeared to be accepted and respected.

The experience demonstrated that when approached with sensitivity for local nuances, faith is a natural part of community life and discussion.