The Birth of "EMDR-Ethiopia"

October 17, 2010:

Today, 24 Ethiopian psychologists, social workers, counselors and play therapists met at Hope for Children to give birth to a new association, EMDR-Ethiopia. This group of professionals will make decisions about future educational trainings, will establish guidelines for EMDR therapists throughout Ethiopia and will maintain contact between the graduates. 

It is hard to believe how far we have come in less than 12 months! 

The group elected Yewoinshet Masresha (below, on right) as the Executive Director, and selected four other members to serve on the board of directors. 

Then the group chose five members to serve on the Executive Committee and elected Engidaw Astatkie (second from left, above) as as their Chairperson. 

Five committees were also formed, including the Charter Committee, the Education Committee, the Translation Committee, the Communication Committee and the Logistics Committee.

Three hours later, with an over-riding feeling of accomplishment, everyone gathered for an historic picture, spontaneously gesturing "Go with that" as the photo was snapped!

More Days of Training

 Oct 14-16, 2010:
After a few hours of sleep and a celebratory meal at a wonderful Indian restaurant, we were back at Hope For Children on Thursday morning for EMDR Part 2 and another 3 days of training.

These students had been practicing their skills for 6-12 months, depending on when they completed Part 1 last year, and were eager to learn more.

The mornings were filled with lectures by Reyhana Seedat and Dr. Gisela Roth. In the afternoons, the participants practiced their new skills on each other.

On day three, we completed training our second group of Part 2 therapists. It has been less than 12 months since we began EMDR training in Ethiopia!

Using EMDR with Children

October 13, 2010:  With no rest for the weary, we began a specialty training on working with children the very next day. Dr. Frances Klaff combined her many years of experience with video tapes of actual sessions with children, to provided the 35 participants with ideas on using EMDR with this population.

Children present their own challenges due to their short attention spans and their non-verbal ways of expressing their problems and emotions. Dr. Klaff, one of earliest therapists in the EMDR world to adapt EMDR to these young clients, emphasized how creative a therapist needs to be in order to respond appropriately to the unique way that each child participates in therapy.

In Ethiopia, due to the millions of AIDS-orhphaned children, the majority of therapists taking EMDR trainings are working with children. To help them get started, wands, finger puppets, laminated charts about emotion and I Think, I Feel, I Am Cards donated by Melinda Halpern-Collins were handed out to everyone at the end of the day.


And to top off the afternoon, the first group of Ethiopians to complete both Part 1 & 2 of the training and demonstrate competence in EMDR were awarded their EMDR Completion Certificates. These therapists, among others, have been working on this for the past year, and are the first of many to join the International EMDR community of therapists.

Third Trip to Ethiopia

I can hardly believe I am back in Addis for the third time!

While I was gone, the EMDR-trained psychologists and social workers practiced their skills and met frequently with a friend of mine who lives here, John Messer. John has taught at the School of Social Work, Addis Ababa University and decided last year to offer weekly study groups to any of the EMDR students who wanted to improve their skills. And it was easy to see what a profound effect his help made of those who attended.

Woiny met me at the airport and we immediately set off finalizing all of the details for the training... printing the manuals, selecting the training site, renting chairs... Consultations began two days later when Dr. Frances Klaff, originally from South Africa and now from the US, and I met with several groups of Ethiopians who had previously completed Part 1 or Part 2  and had questions about their cases.

It felt impossible that we would be ready on time, but Part 1 began four days after my arrival with everything in place. Reyhans Seedat, an EMDR-HAP trainer from South Africa and Dr. Gisela Roth, a psychiatrist and facilitator from Kenya, flew in the night before, completing our staff.

We began class each day at 8:30 and went until 5:00, with an hour break for lunch and two tea/coffee breaks. Hope for Children prepared lunches, serving Ethiopian meals that out-shone any food I have eaten here in Addis.

Three long days of lectures, videos, role-playing and practicum resulted in 21 new, Ethiopian EMDR-Part 1 therapists!

Dorothy

Thanksgiving and Visioning the Future

Today I wake-up back in Pennsylvania. It is Thanksgiving morning and I spend a few moments sorting out all of the experiences I have had in the past few weeks, as well as the vast number of things I am grateful for.

So much has been accomplished, so much remains to be done. I want to share a story and a few final pictures with you to illustrate Woiny’s tireless creativity and her relentless process of envisioning the future.

A few years ago HFC received a shipping container from Australia filled with all sort of supplies for the children. Since that time, the container has served as a storage building for various donations. Last week, over the course of a single day, I heard metal being cut, welded and hammered, but did not really pay much attention to what was happening.

The next day, however, when I was summoned to lunch, I found the usual dining area empty and was told that I should come to the new “Inter-Container Canteen” for it inaugural meal. As I entered the container I was completely surprised to see that it had been transformed into a two-room facility with a full kitchen in one half and a serving/dining area in the other. A small window between the two allows the food and the coffee to be passed between the two.

This creative use of every possible resource and the endless envisioning of new projects are two of Woiny’s greatest gifts. Three weeks ago she showed me the new school she was planning to open in Entoto. Before I left, she had found someone to fund it and had already moved on to her latest dream of buying a nearby building to ensure a permanent home for her Play Therapy Center.

In addition, she has convinced me that when I have collected enough psychology books, I will find a way to send them over in a container similar to the one that has recently become the dining hall. The container, she has announced, will then be turned into the library. I have no idea how all this will happen, only that this new psychology library, now envisioned, will only be a matter of time and effort before it manifests.

I wish you all a mindful day of thanks-giving and am so grateful for your interest in the on-going story of Hope for Children and the experience of bringing EMDR to Ethiopia, a country of great need, great resourcefulness and great gratitude.

Dorothy

Trauma Training and Consultations

So many people asked for training in grief and trauma that we scheduled a full-day workshop for anyone interested, not just therapists, on Catherine’s last day in Addis. Catherin had about 35 people participate in her “Advanced Grief, Mourning and Trauma” workshop, which was received well and peppered with many questions from the participants. Hope For Children hosted the event, provided wonderful food and even kept their tent up from the Anniversary celebration so that we could house people comfortably outdoors.
After a very long day, Catherine boarded the plane late that night and left for the 20+ hour trip back to the US. I will continue to hold consultation groups daily for the 27 EMDR trained therapist to answer questions and enhance their understanding of what is a fairly complex new theoretical orientation for them. One more week with so much to do!

Dorothy

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”

Between all of our consultation sessions and our trainings, Catherine and I manage to get away for a few hours to visit the National Museum. It is a small, four story museum that house the country’s treasures, including Lucy.

Actually, the “real” Lucy is visiting the US right now, but the replica is indistinguishable. Until recently, Lucy was the oldest adult skeleton excavated and she was found in Ethiopia. She is about 3.2 million years old and was name “Lucy” by be British archeologist who discovered her, after the Beatle’s song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. The Ethiopians prefer their name for her, “Dinknesh” which means “Wonderful”.

Lucy’s brain is no larger than a chimpanzee’s but she walked upright. She was 3.5 feet tall and is one of our earliest ancestors. Her scientific name is Australopithecus Afarensis.

The lower floor also displays many other important archeological human and animal discoveries, as well as painting of many extinct animals.

The main floor is the home of the very ancient sculpture, as well as the clothing, crowns and even a throne of various emperors of the past few hundred years. Paintings and pieces of sculpture from the past few hundred years are housed on the second floor and displays of traditional crafts and tools fill the top floor.

The museum is quite powerful in its simplicity and a must see for everyone who comes to Addis. For me, 3.2 million years is a length of time that my mind has trouble grasping.

Dorothy