ACN helping displaced to overcome trauma in Mozambique
For those who have lost loved ones, or even just their material goods, due to terrorist attacks in Mozambique, the work of religious sisters in the Diocese of Pemba, supported by ACN, has been a saving grace.
Sister Aparecida Queiroz, a sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus, originally from Brazil, has been in Mozambique since 2017. Part of her mission there has been to help thousands of people displaced by terrorism in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, to overcome trauma sustained through violence.
With the financial support of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, the sister provides and coordinates the psychosocial and spiritual support of the different congregations to the displaced in the Diocese of Pemba.
“They are completely lost because of trauma,” Sister Aparecida tells ACN, “this work helps them start their life again.”
The north of Mozambique has been plagued by an Islamist insurrection which has claimed over 6,000 lives since 2017 and has led to over one million people fleeing their homes in search of safety. Though some merely fled for fear of being affected, others suffered attacks directly. Regardless of their personal stories, everybody has lost something.
“We are speaking about people who lost everything, not just material goods, but their very identities. Many of these people lost family members, in the most brutal ways.”
Often, the sister finds that material loss is the least of their concerns. The deep psychological trauma can be crippling, leading people to lose any positive outlook on life.
“Through our work we help people to rebuild their lives. Rebuild their identity, work through their pain and start being people again, to start working and dreaming again.
Our work, individual or in groups, helps people to recover.”
“We do group sessions where people recover their self-confidence, they speak and do manual work, because when people are displaced, they lose their references, and this work helps them to get back to celebrating their lives, to express themselves the way they used to in their villages. They express a joy which they had not done since the attack.”
During the group sessions, Sister Aparecida sees trust begin to reappear in the eyes of their patients. “The group serves as support, and as a way to rebuild trust, because the attacks feed distrust, and here they learn to trust in their communities again, and they celebrate this together.”
Aid to the Church in Need has been supporting the Church in Mozambique, especially in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Besides support for the trauma healing work, ACN helps the Church provide emergency aid and pastoral support for the internally displaced, as well as vehicles to aid pastoral workers in their mission.
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