Issa with one of the children in the very first Heroes Journey program in Adjumani
When you look at a man like Issa, you would easily think confident, driven, ambitious. But to talk to him in 2016, you would have met a different man; a man plagued by trauma, pain and hopelessness. In his short life, Issa has been taken as a child soldier, been made a refugee twice, and suffered three bullet wounds in his back. He has lost countless friends and family members to war and conflict, but most of all, he lost his peace and his innocence. Issa knows conflict. Issa knows trauma. And Issa knows healing.
His story of redemption and restoration is astounding. After attending the Tutapona Empower program in 2017 as an adult, Issa’s life was changed. He went from wanting to give up on life all together, to having a strong future full of hope and plans. Issa was so impacted by the program that he began attending repeatedly, wanting to draw more from each program as he went. He volunteered as a translator, then as a community mobilizer, until he officially became employed as a program facilitator in Adjumani.
This year, after training with child mental health professionals, Issa became one of our first Heroes Journey facilitators in the Northern Region!
“Before Heroes Journey, I have been running a children’s ministry in the refugee camp. Now that I am trained in the Heroes Journey I feel more than equipped to help these children even more. I feel like I am really empowered with how to work with children and interact with them, so it has been great.
There are needs with the children here - psychosocial needs. I work with Unaccompanied Minors - children who don’t have a parent or caretaker, and there are so many of them! Because of what they have experienced, we see their performance in school is really affected. The child may be brilliantly intelligent, but they are not performing that well, or they drop out of school and just sit at home. They begin modelling the behaviour of the soldiers they saw in South Sudan. They make pretend guns, and harass community members and quarrel with their peers. All things they have seen back from their country, they are emulating them here.
If they don’t get help the conflict will only grow will grow. They will see people as bad. We even see them becoming violent with their parents as well. When the trauma these children have experienced is addressed I know they could become great future leaders. They could bring peace to South Sudan, and in Adjumani. These children can be the pioneers of peace and can even give these skills to other children as well.
If I was able to undergo a program like The Heroes Journey when I was a child, I think my life would be so different, because it has taken so much time to recover from the traumatic experiences I’ve gone through. Even as an adult, I was still battling a lot before the Empower program, but if I could have had this when I was a child my life would be so much further than it is now.
As an adult, through this children’s program I’m learning more about hope and courage to combat shame. These are the common things in all of our lives. I think this is helpful for children, but for adults as well. You know, sometimes we allow shame to control us, and when we do we feel like we have no way out. We can’t succeed in what we want to do. But when we fight it we know that we are more than the shame. And when we learn how to identify and handle our emotions we can also understand why we are feeling that way, and that can help to change our responses.
I’m so happy with the Heroes Journey program we’ve just launched in Adjumani, and I’m so excited about what it will do!”
Issa’s story has come full circle - He’s now working with children whose childhood closely resembles his own. We count it an honor to be a part of each of these stories, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to steward this wonderful resource that God has given us.
We’d also like to take a moment to thank those of you who have given to make this much needed program possible. You are making a difference and changing lives - you are equipping us to impact children at their point of need, preventing them from living lives of trauma inflicted pain and hopelessness.
If you’d like to be a part of this, helping Tutapona make a difference with Children living as refugees, you can donate or become a regular giving partner HERE.
Tutapona Adjumani’s first graduating class of Heroes! Issa (on the left) co-facilitated this amazing program.