From April 12-21, a team of three mental health therapists, two psychologists, and a medical doctor worked with Sudanese war refugees in Cairo and Aswan, Egypt. Led by Celia Deneen, the team collaborated with Youhanna and our Global Hope Egyptian team to  share the realities of trauma and provide healthy opportunities for emotional expression and learning coping strategies. 

After working with approximately 75-80 women in Cairo, as well as training the GHNI Egyptian team, the team flew to Aswan, not far from the Sudanese border. On the first afternoon, they drove about an hour outside of Aswan and met with villagers in a Nubian village. This village has the opportunity to impact approximately 44 villages in this area and is one of our Global Hope projects. Celia and the trauma team shared briefly about trauma and were very encouraged by the reception there. 

In Aswan the team led groups with a total of 40-50 women. Team members have shared amazing stories of lives impacted, as the refugees and the Egypt team had not received this training before this week and were very thankful. One woman said that she slept for the first time since the war started a year ago, and several others said that they learned how to interact differently with their children to help them with their own traumatic symptoms. Several reported that their smiles have returned, and one told Youhanna that the negative energy had left her since participating in the group meetings.

Helping normalize the symptoms of a traumatic response, the team left the women with hope for the future, a critical step toward emotional and physical health. That kind of feedback makes all the effort worthwhile!

Would you consider engaging on a similar trip and using your skills among the nations?

Please check out the pictures below.