Saturday, February 26, 2011

NEW BLOG!

My new blog is now online! In "Beyond Trauma" I will be writing about developments in psychotherapy, counselling, psychotraumatology (conferences, articles and books that interest me), experiences of refugees and issues of identity, oppression and liberation with regard to race, class, gender etc. In addition to the many interests I have as a citizen, I am also a movie addict so I will probably write about some of those too. See you there!

Margaret Green Read More or Comment

Thursday, February 17, 2011

LAST POST

This blog is no longer active. The site remains as an archive of developments, events and experiences at the Trauma Centre in the years 2009/2010.
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Friday, November 12, 2010

Invitation to Dialogue about Recent Gang Violence


The Trauma Centre will be hosting a Dialogue about recent gang violence at the Slave Lodge, Adderley Street on Tuesday November 23rd at 10.00 am.  
All Welcome. Please RSVP to 021 4657373.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

New South African Book on Trauma

TRAUMATIC STRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA by Debra Kaminer and Gillian Eagle


Invitation to the Launch - 21st September, 5.30pm. The Book Lounge, Roeland St. cnr Buitenkant, Cape Town


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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Slavery has gone indoors....


The elegant interior of the IDASA building on Spin street was the venue for a moving multimedia launch of the Embrace Dignity campaign against Human Trafficking. Care, respect and beauty went into every aspect of this event, which included music, poetry, song and an art and video exhibition. The venue itself faces the old Slave Market; now aptly memorialised with large engraved granite blocks where before, and for many years, there was the Church Square car park.
The founder of the Campaign, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, introduced Ruchira Gupta, the President of a sister organisation in India with 10,000 members. Where once human slaves were sold in open slave markets, they are now sold on the Internet. Slavery has indeed gone indoors; and it is a global industry involving children, pornography and sexual exploitation. In the Dakar room, you can see a wonderful artwork by Ruth Carneson which seems to both capture the resilience and the fragility of women who are trafficked for sex work - the violent rupture of intimate spaces. It echoes the photographic exhibitions of faces that one sees commemorating genocides in places where these have taken place. Lastly,...

you will be entranced by an installation by Ed Young called "Arch" - an exuberant Desmond Tutu in full regalia flying from a chandelier! Part of the permanent collection I presume. The exhibition and events will continue for the rest of the week.

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Friday, July 9, 2010

Creativity in Adversity

Siphora Designs

Francise has experienced many xenophobic attacks and threats since coming to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001.

Nevertheless she is not one who allows herself to become depressed by her situation. She set up Siphora Designs and works from home designing and making impeccably crafted cushions using imported materials. She takes orders by e-mail: siphoradesign@gmail.com and the cushions sell for R100 for small sizes to R250 for large ones.


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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A Different Kind of World Cup!

You might be interested to check out a US-based blog: The Refuge Media Project which aims to create films and discussion about refugee issues and torture. They are reporting on a Refugee World Cup which was held in the San Francisco Bay Area and another one that is due to happen in the Boston Area on June 19th. What a brilliant idea! Did anyone think of it for South Africa? Given the threats that refugees are experiencing in Cape Town about what might happen to them after the World Cup is over(see Cape Times of 4th and 7th June), this could be just the kind of "welcome" the refugee community could do with.


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