2009 HIGHLIGHTS: Part I

The achievements of the Trauma Centre in 2009 included addressing community violence and strengthening international partnerships:

SHIFTING MINDSETS: COMMUNITY VIOLENCE AND THE NEXT GENERATION
The Trauma Centre in partnership with the Institute for Healing of Memories held two dialogues. In Dialogue one, a presentation on “Colonisation, Apartheid and historical trauma: is this an important set of risk factors for male violence and what can we do about it?” was presented by Professor Sandy Lazarus, Kopano Ratele and Shahnaaz Suffla from the (Medical Research Council and UNISA).


Subsequent to the presentation small group discussions took place in six break away groups. The groups were asked to reflect on the current causes of community violence in their communities as well as brainstorming a way forward. In the second dialogue Mr Cyril Adonis (CSVR-Centre for the study of violence and Reconciliation) presented his research work on the 2nd generation. Three break away groups were formed subsequent to the presentation. The groups had to reflect on the following: The past and its impact on the new generation, the contributing factors of violent behaviour exhibited by the new generation and ways forward on bridging the trans-generational gap.


The Trauma Centre conducted a situational analysis assessment with a group of Zimbabweans who were affected by the xenophobia outbreak in De Doorns: The staff members had informal conversations with the displaced group to determine their perceptions and interpretation of the situation. From this it was noted that much advocacy around foreign national experiences and rights needs to happen as well as psycho-education for both South African citizens and foreign nationals, as misperceptions seem to be one of the many leading causes of xenophobia.


ECLECTIC & COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES IN ADDRESSING CRIME

The launch of the Gugulethu project, with the support of the Gugulethu community as well as all involved proved, to be a great success. With this project the Trauma Centre hopes to ensure employment of an eclectic approach in dealing with the root causes of crime in the community.

THE TRAUMA CENTRE GOING GLOBAL: EGYPT & BULGARIA

Since 2008 the Political Violence Programme has been involved in collecting data about torture for the Global Project. In July, staff attended the Global Project evaluation meeting in Cairo, Egypt where this data was presented.. Six countries meeting, sharing knowledge and interventions on the rehabilitation of victims of torture was an amazing experience for all. Field practice experiences were also transferred and an opportunity was created for all to engage with each other about the history and cultures of our various home countries. To finally see the fruits of our hard work, made the Global Project evaluation meeting a very proud and rewarding experience.

The Political Violence Programme’s work with the 2nd generation was presented at an international conference "Political Persecution in Different Contexts: What are the psychological consequences for the subject and the Next Generations?" in Sofia, Bulgaria. Great interest was specifically shown towards our 2nd generation camps and the use of the outdoors/wilderness as our classrooms.

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Launch of the Gugulethu Project

Gugu Shabalala and superintendent Ntsezo at the launch

Today -3rd September 2009 - a new community-based project of the Trauma Centre was launched with music, singing, dancing, prayers and speeches at Ikhwesi Community Hall. Gugu Shabalala and Donna Miller have worked tirelessly over the past six months to forge relationships and partnerships with people and organisations in Gugulethu. This was evident at the launch. Organisations present were Ikamva Labantu, Helping Hands, the Department of Community Development and 2 nearby schools. The guest speaker was Superintendent Ntsezo of the South African Police Service. He was very welcoming of the Trauma Centre’s initiative.

In terms of high crime statistics the Western Cape is 10th in the world; Iraq is 7th. He said that Gugulethu (Gugs) is a beautiful community, heavily challenged by crime and agreed with our Director that tackling the underlying causes of violence was the way to go. He pointed out that violence in Gugs is internal; criminals don’t come from elsewhere - young people don’t like where they are in their lives and become trapped in drug use and parents are not supported. He added that the person directly affected by violence is not the only victim – their immediate family, relatives and friends are also traumatised.

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