By Jennifer Smith
A Note from Tutapona: We LOVE having people visit our programs and see our staff in action. It gives a fresh perspective on our work, and encourages our staff and participants alike in feeling like they’re not in this alone. We hope you enjoy reading about this recent encounter with our Healthy Habits program in Northern Uganda!
Around the world, the need for mental health support has multiplied in recent years, while access to services has not always increased. Tutapona is working with extremely vulnerable populations in refugee settlements near the borders in Uganda, offering emotional healing to people affected by war.
On a Monday afternoon, thirteen men and women sat under a glade of trees in northern Uganda and spoke about freedom. Having fled horrific violence in South Sudan, they found shelter in the expansive Adjumani Refugee Settlement area, which sits in Uganda, just 50 kms south of the border.
Sitting on benches and clasping paperback workbooks, each went around the circle and spoke of their desire for freedom: to be free from substance abuse and other unhealthy habits that are common coping mechanisms in refugee settlements.
One man confessed he'd like to stop drinking so he could use the money for his children's school fees. The woman next to him said she often got into physical fights with others and was fined by her community leaders, having no money to care for her family as a result. Another woman said she wanted to stop drinking but found it very difficult because her husband repeatedly beat her.
This was the 2nd meeting of the Healthy Habits program – Tutapona’s eight-week psycho-social support program. Now in its fourth year running, Healthy Habits is designed to empower participants to overcome unwanted, habitual patterns of behavior and develop healthier, more desirable ones. What sets this and Tutapona’s other therapeutic programs apart is that each program is specifically tailored to respond to the traumas and mental health concerns of refugees who have faced war and conflict.
“I have witnessed many changes in my life. I’m glad to tell you that my wife is also grateful, my kids are grateful - they have seen the change in my life, too. Many of my friends know how I used to behave. I wasn’t honoring my wife, sometimes I would come home drunk. I didn’t care about the kids. That’s why I said that my kids are also grateful for this program. So, I will use myself as an example, “Do you see how I have changed?” I will use myself as an example to explain to all people how impactful this program was.” - Lawrance, Healthy Habits Graduate
Founded in 2008, by psychotherapists Carl and Julie Gaede, Tutapona’s group-based programs use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Post Traumatic Growth Therapy (PTGT) to help adults and children who have been experienced violence and displacement.
Tutapona’s all national staff in Uganda currently run mental health programming in two of the country’s refugee camps, with their trained therapists offering group sessions in multiple local languages, as well as one-on-one counseling.
At this Healthy Habits session, the prevailing language spoken is Ma'di, which is used along the Uganda/South Sudanese border. Brian, the facilitator for this group, spoke through a local interpreter to understand what unhealthy habit each individual wanted to stop, and for what reason.
Once everyone had a chance to speak, he explained with emphasis, “The idea is you want freedom from the unhealthy habit and freedom to doing something else! You will have freedom to do what the unhealthy habit has prevented you from doing.”
"This is not a one-person journey," Brian continued. "It is about sharing and learning from each other as a peer supported group.”
REFUGEES IN UGANDA
The international community has praised Uganda for its welcoming refugee policy in a region shaken by conflict. The country currently hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa - 1.5 million - who have fled primarily from neighboring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have both experienced long lasting wars, extreme violence from militias intertribal fighting, and food insecurity.
Although finding relative safety within a refugee settlement after fleeing conflict might be a short-term relief, life within a refugee settlement creates high stress and impoverished living conditions. This, compared with the loss and suffering previously faced creates a large need for mental health care, with few programs available.
Tutapona's adult-focused GROW and Healthy Habits programs, and its youth-oriented Heroes Journey, provide highly-structured, cost-effective ways to alleviate symptoms associated with their stresses, and provide tools to help them overcome and build resilience to face their past and future challenges. In fact, graduates from these programs see a 50% reduction in trauma symptoms post-program, and 90% see an increase in their well-being.
This means people are sleeping better, caring for their children, working together in their communities, and planning for their futures!
Thank you Jennifer, for taking the time to write about your experience visiting Tutapona, and sharing your thoughts and insights on our work, and the refugee situation in Uganda! We are thankful for you!