As amazing as it may seem, my second trip to Ethiopia begins in just a few days. On this trip my colleague and friend, Catherine McLaughlin, will be joining me. Together with Reyhana Seedat, an EMDR Trainer from South Africa, we will be teaching EMDR to 27 Ethiopian psychologists and social workers. Catherine and I will then offer individual and group supervision to the trainees for the following two weeks.During my first trip last March, I taught Introductory Trauma Training to 87 professionals, and from that group we have identified 27 therapists for the first EMDR workshop. The generous donations that you and others have contributed to EMDR-HAP have made this trip possible just 6 months after the first one. EMDR-HAP has also donated 15 copies of Francine Shapiro's EMDR textbook for the trainees.
For other professionals, Catherine will be teaching Advanced Trauma Training, Grief and Mourning, as well as a workshop on how to use story telling as a therapeutic technique for stabilizing traumatized children and increasing their resilience.
We will also be carrying dozens of eyeglasses for the HFC children and staff that Dr. Betsy Hancock is busily labeling for us. There is an endless need for glasses in Ethiopia and we will be taking as many as we can on every trip. If you have any to donate, you can drop theme off at BPC.
Weight permitting, we will also pack some of the books that have been donated by psychologists and other professionals throughout the state to build a library for all Ethiopian psychotherapists. There is almost a complete lack of clinical psychology books and tapes in the country, and the building of this library is one of my long-term goals.
And finally, thanks to your contributions to Hope For Children-US, in addition to all of the Play Therapy supplies, we are bringing HFC a replacement for their broken video camera. Videos of the children and HFC's programs are extremely important for getting out the word on the important work that is being done. While we are there, HFC will be celebrating their 9th Anniversary and we will bring back photos and video footage to share with you. It is almost beyond belief what Yewoinshet has accomplished in 9 years, and I am overjoyed to be there for the celebration.
Once I arrive in Addis Ababa on November 1st, I will update this blog every few days. If you want to be notified when there is a new entry, click on "Followers" on the right hand side of this blog and add your email address to the group. Otherwise, just check every few days. I will return home on November 23rd, and back at BPC on November 30th.
With gratitude,
Dorothy
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Dorothy -- I am so pleased that our financial support of your work is providing this opportunity for you and Catherine to continue your EMDR training efforts and to provide some needed supplies to the Hope For Children population. I also know that you had to spend several extended weekends attending advanced EMDR training here in the US in preparation for this trip so your personal contribution is well beyond just the time spent in Ethiopia. Your approach of “training the trainers” is really leveraging our contributions and maximizing the impact of your efforts. I look forward to reading about this trip -- keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteWow - it seems like you were just there! It's so important for these professionals to have the resources that our privileged country has to help their children. Eventhough the information and training you are taking to Ethiopia is a percentage of the resources we are fortunate to have, you are no doubt making a big difference in their lives. To be able to touch lives across the world must be absolutely enlivening and gratifying. To know how many people you help and to extend your knowledge and talents to Ethiopia is very noble.
ReplyDeleteHave a SAFE and WONDERFUL trip.