In Ottawa there is a War museum. Last fall they had a very interesting exhibition called “Medicine at War.”  A special section about the psychological effects of war was named “The Mind”. 

Pictures and videos telling about different treatments that were used for those who showed distressful symptoms after combat and experience of war. Testimonies from  soldiers, their relatives and commanders: the mother whose son who committed suicide when finally returning alive from Iraq, the UN General Dallaire who after not being allowed to act when realizing a genocide was being planned in Rwanda, and ever since have been traumatized, the Canadian soldier from Afghanistan saying: “The war is within you whatever you do, apart from that it was a perfect job…”   , and the wife of a returning soldier: “It is frightening because you don´t know what kind of person you wake up beside – the nice guy you married or the angry, violent one he also has become since coming back form the war.”

There have been many theories about what the symptoms were caused by and what could be done about them. A concept of Vietnam Syndrome – later renamed PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder  – was not publicized until 1981 after the Vietnam War and included as a diagnosis in the DSM III, the bible of psychiatric diagnosis. This is what generally would be called trauma.

Before that these kind of symptoms were considered being a fatigue/tiredness of combat, ie something you were supposed to heal from by resting for some time. After resting one would be sent back to the battle field. It was called things like: exhaustion, War neurosis and the patients were called war shakers, war tremblers etc. Some were condemned to war crime and executed  because they could not fight when sent back to the front. Instead they collapsed or got “crazy”. 

One of the first filmed documentations about the psychological effects of war was done in 1946 by the famous filmmaker John Houston: “Let there be light”. If you are interested check this link:

The film was banned for many years by the American authorities according to some because they did not want to show the devastating psychological effects of war.

Now there is recognition that war and similar experiences can cause severe psychological problems. According to the statistics 20 percent of the returning  american soldiers would be diagnosed with PTSD. This means 300 000 former soldiers from different US wars are traumatized.  And the consequences are showing: many of them lose their jobs, get homeless and end up in prison. Their traumas create violence and difficult to live in peace with others. Some  

In US there is a so called Veteran´s day on the 11 of november, a day for recognizing the deeds and sufferings of the so called “Vets”, the War Veterans i e the former soldiers. In Canda the same day is called Remembrance Day which then includes also the victims of war. Just in the Vietnam war hundreds of thousands of people were killed and many still suffer from the chemicals used. And how many are traumatized? 

At the end of the exhibition there is a conclusion:

“War and violence can cause invisible injuries. /../The lingering effects of war on the mind can last long after the fighting ends. The importance of medicine at war is to save lives and to restore hope to those traumatized in war”. 

This means that it is still considered difficult or impossible to heal the traumas of war. “Restore hope” is not  healing. But for us working with Energy Psychology and different Tapping protocols in conflict and post-conflict areas as well as with returning soldiers in for example the US or Canada know that it is very possible to heal war traumas. Keep spreading the word about the advantages of EP and Tapping to those in need. Victims and perpetrators. Military and civilians.There is a campaign going on in the US to highlight the healing possibilities for war trauma with Energy Psychology – and in this case specifically with the technique called EFT- Emotional Freedom Technique: 

http://www.change.org/petitions/how-to-heal-the-sights-and-sounds-of-combat-trauma

A very good film showing the consequences of war in soldiers and their families is “Brothers” by the Danish director Susanne Bier. Highly recommended! 

In Mumosho, like in Eastern Congo in general, women are more or less considered a production unit: they should give birth to many children (and absolutely not only girls), take care of the house and serve the husband, cultivate the land and work elsewhere to earn money. The most stunning image are all the women walking deeply bent along the roads with loads on their backs weighing up to 80 kilos. Beside men walk leisurely. And above all there is an alarming degree of sexual violence. You need a lot of strength and resilience to be a woman in Eastern Congo. And resilience is there. And strength. Meet the women of Mumosho.

I come to Mumosho to have a tapping training together with Amani Matabaro who is originally from there and has created an organization to support projects in his community. Specially for women and children. With us are also Cate Haight and Rebecca Snavely from the US who supports and funds Amani´s projects through their Action Kivu (www.actionkivu.org).

15 women are gathered in a small room of bricks that we have borrowed from one of the primary schools in Mumosho. Beautifully dressed as women always are in Congo. Ready to learn and and see if this tapping really can make a change.

I ask about the symptoms of trauma. One of the women, Françoise, a single mother of five children, says with an obvious experience:
“We know trauma very well here. Too well. Trauma is like a wound inside your heart. It hinders you from feeling fine or happy. When you are traumatized you get weak. A piece of land that used to take one day to cultivate will instead take over a month. You have headaches no matter what medicine you take. The heart beats so hard that it hurts. And sleeping is just something you dream about being able to do”

The other 15 women in the room nods acknowledging and start speaking very openly about the problems women live through. Mapendo, who also is a councellor for people living with hiv and Aids tells she was thrown out of her house by her in-laws because she had only given birth to four girls and no boy.  She stands up and adds to what Francoise said:

“When you are traumatized people look at you they ask if you are sick, because you look sad and miserable. Young people look old.” She straightens the beautiful scarf she skillfully has arranged around the hair and gives us a smile.

Apart from being a deeply inequal society Eastern Congo has been the scene for violence and war since 15 years back when the genocide in Rwanda ended and spilled over the border to neighbouring Congo. The reasons for the conflict are many but a vital component for making it long lasting is the fact that the area is very rich in minerals – minerals needed in all electronic devices used in the world: specifically mobile phones and laptops (see enoughproject video). Mumosho is right on the border between the two countries and have been therefore been looted and attacked too many times. One armed group after the other coming and accusing the population for supporting the other groups. And therefore punishing them.

“You know, we so much need a technique like the tapping to help ourselves and others” says Esperance Mapendo who is a nurse and participated in a TTT training already some months ago (see “Peace Tappers in Mumosho”  further down in the blog).

“Women have suffered a lot here and still do. In their marriages, in the community and from the violence of this ongoing armed conflict. Probably 80 percent of us are traumatized”.

All of the women get into the discussion about trauma. Very engaged.  One after the other they continue giving more examples of how people get traumatized. We note them down on the blackboard:

-Women who have been raped get traumatized – not only from the rape itself but also for being pointed at by the others in the community. The shame feels so bad that she get traumatized again. They often isolate themselves.

– A woman who gives birth after being raped will also suffer also for that. And the child will be traumatized too since they are seen as children of the enemy.

– People living with hiv and aids are also marginalized and feel shame – just because they are sick and people have a lot of prejudices.And they also fear death and that their children will be orphans.

– Children who are orphans of war or aids are also traumatized. They see other children being taken care of – but they, they are alone.

-Many women are left by their husbands. Some men marry and then after producing a lot of children they leave and get another wife. But still they will ask the first woman for the money she earns to buy things for the new wife. No wonder getting traumatized while trying to care for all the children by oneself in that way. One feels like dying.

– If you don´t get pregnant fast enough after marriage your husband will leave you. Nobody will marry you again.

– When your husband dies, you and you children loses the right to the house and the land. That gives a trauma for survival.

-Families who have had their houses looted or burnt down by different armed groups don´t feel safe in their homes. And as soon as they see a soldier they get traumatized again.

Etc, etc, etc

Even Amani, being from the community gets amazed by the reality the women live in.

“We must start discussing these questions in the community so tht things can change!“ he says. Applaud from the women.

Then we list all the symptoms of trauma that the women have recognized in themselves and others in the community. When the list is already long one of the women says:

“I think this list is long enough, and do you know, some people have ALL these symptoms!: headaches, difficult to sleep, getting angry without reason, feeling isolated, lack of appetite, feeling weak… and even more. Imagine the lives we live!”

We start practicing TTT. First how to do it on themselves. Then they treat each other two by two. We regroup the plastic chairs to give some space to each couple. “Can we start?” asks Esperence. And they do. Silence falls over the little room. Only the sound of children repeating French sentences from the next classroom is heard. When finishing the tapping the silence remains. The 15 women sit relaxed, a bit leaned back. Beatrice, a widow with nine children, sits up with a smile, breaking the silence by saying:

“Wow, this technique is nice. I was like somewhere else during the tapping – like in paradise – feeling like  flying”.

Everybody laughs and starts talking abut the experience of the tapping and how this could help the people in the community. We make a groups for discussing and then another list on the blackboard about how to reach out. A lot of suggestions appear.

Esperance, the nurse, makes a summary of  the discussions:

“We like this treatment! It is easy. We will use it and we promise we will spread this to as many as possible. We will also approach the leaders of our community. It will make a change in our society like the way I have changed myself. I have practiced since the first time I had the training last time you were here. You know my husband left me with all my kids. He went to live with another woman. It was a heavy burden for me and it made me deeply traumatized. Every time we met in the village we would fight – with slaps and fists! People used to say that I was crazy like a mad woman.

But now after having used this treatment I can forgive my husband. I don´t fight with him anymore when we meet. I have realized that it is a normal problem, something that happens to many, not only to me. Now people say: “What has happened to her? She is so calm!”

She continues: “Yes, I have really changed. And I want others to experience the same thing.

We should have a special place where people could come and get treated and learn. Like a center. In that way we would reach many people and make it more formal and recognized. There we could also have discussions about gender related questions so that we can start changing the roles of men and women. “

Laughter and applauds. From the women and us.

Esperence´s comment confirms to me and Amani that we should do our best to create a Peace Trauma Tapping Center in Mumosho.

To do this we would need funding to compensate some of these women to do the trauma tapping and to pay rent for a house to be in.  50-100 SEK or 10 USD per month would take us a long way 🙂 Do You Want To Join us to make it real and in that way be part of making a difference in Eastern Congo?

Click our DONATE page…. anything is more than nothing!

ps. To know more about the confllict in DR Congo check Enough project’s (www.enoughproject.org) video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF-sJgcoY20&feature=player_embedded

Just have to share this story about Charles, a former child soldier from Gulu in the northern part of Uganda. I know Charles  through the project that I work with since many years: The World´s Children´s Prize www.worldschildrensprize.org.

Charles  was kidnapped and forced in to the LRA – Lord Resistance Army in Uganda – when he was about 10 years old. He was a soldier for over three years. After escaping and getting back in to his community he was later invited to US to cycle around Ohio to raise money for an organization campaigning to make people aware of what happens to children in war zones like Uganda.

Sounded all well. Charles also turned out to be a very good cyclist. But instead of being gratified for his participation he ended up being used as a slave – working for the manager of the project on his farm taking care of and cleaning for the cows, horses and sheep, making fences, moving heavy stones, driving the tractor and loading whatever etc etc. He was not  allowed to eat with the family, not even getting good food. He should just always do what the manager commanded him to do.

Not only that. He had to go around telling about his experiences as a child soldier over and over again at different events. Every time he got re-traumatized and had difficult to sleep because of the nightmares haunting him. The organization said they supported the building of a school in his home village and that his family back in Uganda was getting money. But no money was sent.

Charles finally escaped after finding out how to use internet and getting in contact with an other former child soldier who had made her way in the US – writing a book and getting established in the society. Now Charles lives with a friend and has got help from a lawyer to work on his status in the US, studies English and want to take a drivers license to get himself a good job.

He says his experiences of humiliation and exploitation in the US have been even worse than being a child soldier. Because he was forced to be a soldier, but he chose voluntarily to come to the US.

I met him recently when I went to the US for some meetings. We sat in a café talking for quite some time. So long since we met! Then we had a tapping session together with another friend, Tasnim, on a bench in the Boston Common Park. It was the best and most peaceful place we could find even though it was cold under the full moon of November. 

Charles and Tasnim in Boston Common Park. We are all friends from The Wolrd´s Children´s Prize.

Some days later I talked to Charles over Skype:

”When you started the tapping I wondered really what that was all about. But I thought: “Let me try.” And just after a moment I started feeling really, really good. It was GREAT! I felt so relaxed and warm even though we were outside and it was kind of cold. (laughter)

That evening I went to bed at 8.30. I never used to go to bed that early! And I slept till past 8 am the next morning. I slept like the day I was born! Like a baby! I didn´t wake up even one time during the night. Before I only slept one-two hours at a time. I have a lot of medicines for sleeping. But they never gave me this kind of sleep. I could have slept even longer, but my neighbour knocked on my door.

I love this tapping very much. I feel really, really peaceful when I do it. It is so cool! I have to say – that this is the very best science. The one who found this treatment is very smart – he knows exactly how the body works. The tapping goes direct in to to the head, to the mind. I am so happy that somebody could find out such a treatment. It helps me so much. We do it all the time now – me and my friend who was also a child soldier.

Everybody can see how I have changed after this tapping. They say: ”What has happened to him? Why is he smiling all the time.” And I say: ”I´m finally being me again”. I hope that the sad me never comes again. And if he does – I will tap him away.” ( a big smile and laughter)

I am so happy that i finally could meet Charles and give him this tool. When I last met him in 2003 I didn´t know TTT. And Charles didn´t know English. Keep tapping Charles!

TTT training on subway train number one in New York.

Went for a meeting in the UN building in New York the other week. I have this friend there who is a highly skilled “connector”. She wanted me to meet some people and tell about our work. That was among others the buddhist sister Chan Khong from Vietnam who for over 50 years has been working with one of my life heroes and role models: poet, peace activist and monk Thich Nhat Hanh. If you haven´t read any of his books – I can highly recommend them ( www.plumvillage.org). There was also Laura Hassler from the Netherlands who has started Musicians without borders (www.musicianswithoutborders.com). After the meeting I went to sit in the meditation room initiated by the Swedish former UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld. The solid rock in the middle makes the room very still. A contrast to the rest of New York.

When I came back to the UN reception hall to my big surprise a friend from Sweden and Sierra Leone came in through the door: Hjalmar Joffre-Eichhorn who is doing theatre work in reconciliation processes in different parts of the world. Since five years he is based in Kabul in Afghanistan (www.ahrdo.org). 

After laughing at this serendipity and exchanging experiences about life since we last met, Hjalmar asked if I wanted to join him  to see a theatre performance in the Latin American areas  of New York – portraying the difficulties of being immigrant in the US. “Of course” I said. We left the UN building and walked towards the subway train number 1 where three of Hjalmar´s Afghan colleagues joined us. 

When entering the subway train and finding space to sit down in spite of the rush hour, one of them, Salim Rajani, asked me: “Could you please teach me that trauma tapping? Hjalmar showed us once in Kabul but I don´t really remember how to do it properly”. “Of course” I said “just a pleasure. But it has to be here in the train because this is the only time we have together. Is that OK with you?” “No problem!” was Salim´s non-hesitant answer.  

So I started tapping Salim and explaining the technique at rush hour on the red line of the New York subway train between Wall Street and the Bronx. People were watching. But nobody really cares in a city like this. For a theatre worker like Salim a stage or a subway train makes no difference. He was happy. I was happy And we proved it again: TTT can be taught any where at any time as long as the participants feel comfortable with the place. 

xxxxxxx

A couple of weeks later I got an email from Salim who was then back in Kabul:

 “Dear Gunilla

Thank you for teaching me the Trauma Tapping methodology and sending me your web address. I downloaded all videos.

I just had a  training with victims of the war, mainly widows, in Afghanistan and did  Trauma tapping. We used the TTT when they were telling their story. It was really great and useful!

I could not take any pictures this time because the participants were too conservative. But next time I do the Tapping I will take some. 

With this view of Lake Kivu seen from Bukavu in DR Congo we want to wish you a peaceful and happy new year of 2012 with some lines from the Vietnamese monk, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.

“The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.”

And one action can be to pass on TTT to somebody close to you or tell about it to somebody you meet. Be well. 

I have a friend in Eastern DR Congo who is called Amani. In swahili this means “Peace”. The name we carry can mean a lot in our lives. We probably hear that word more than any other word. In many cultures then name has been given for the purpose of their lives and will/should direct the person in their lives. With Amani it is really so. He lives peace and reconciliation, creating projects and connections   between people.  Even though his father and mother were killed by Rwandan soldiers he never   nurtured thoughts of revenge towards the people in the neighbor country. The other way around. He has this last year created a Peace Market in Mumosho, the community where he comes from  just on the border between Rwanda and DRC, overlooking the border river Rusizi  and the westernmost hills of Rwanda.

Amani Matabaro has created a Peace Market at the border between Rwanda and DR Congo to make people meet and reconcile.

There used to be a lot of trading across the border before the genocide in 1994 and the following conflicts and violence. Amanis mother used to walk over to rwanda to buy kerosene and sell it in DR Congo. So he got the idea to re-establish the trading by creating this Peace Market and make people communicate across the border again. He presented the idea to different people and finally Rotary clubs in the US and elsewhere funded the project through the consistent work of our dear Trauma Tapping colleague,  Psychologist Victoria Bentley from Santa Barbara in California (Pls check  “Mumosho Market” on facebook).

Peaceful Heart Network and Amani is now adding another component to this project: the Peace Tappers. The plan is to establish a Trauma Tapping clinic in Mumosho that will give access to people in Mumosho and the area around to get healed from their traumas of violence in the area. We already conducted one training with five women and one man. 

One of the participants, Esperanza Mapendo (her name means “Hope of love”), who is a nurse and participated in  a tapping training some time ago commented after the training:

“ I understand that this tapping is a true medicine. I have already showed it to many. They first find it to be a joke, but then they get surprised how much it helps. We are all living troubled lives. We need this technique. 

When your mind is shaken after all what we have lived through you can damage yourself and also get bankrupt. We do business here at the Peace Market and because of the memories of the past.  Your mind is not clear.  Sometimes we don´t know if we have paid two times.  With the Tapping we can be more healthy, happy and do our business well.”

The first group of Peace Tappers in Mumosho.

“I have woken up from my nightmares” says former child soldier Kasimi after learning the tapping technique.

There are moments in life that leaves these extra strong images in the mind. Some painful – others beautiful or enjoyable. I will tell about one of those beautiful ones…

The story is from Bukavu in DR Congo. The capital of South Kivu. One of the mineral rich and therefore conflict prone areas in the world. Where greed and guns tear lives, families and communities apart.

Since four years back I have been coming to a center for rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Bukavu. It is called BVES and is managed by Namegabe Murhabazi, a true hero of children´s rights. He rightly so he did win the World´s Children´s Prize 2011. (worldschildrensprize.org/murhabazinamegabe)

I have done trainings in TTT with the staff of BVES. And murhabazi is one of those people who have really understood the value of this technique. This last time we had another two day workshop. And then practicing with the kids at the center. That is the most enjoyable part of this work: teaching TTT to those who really need it and see the change.

 This was one of those best practices. A room full of 30 boys fro the age of 11 to 18. All former child soldiers. All somewhat expressing uneasiness by being laud, talkative, coming and going, laughing nervously or like Kasimi : being from time to time completely shut off. Staring in front of him out into something that nobody else sees. But he feels and sees it very clearly. Very painful to see. But still he would participate in the training.

After one round of doing the tapping together most of them have got the sequence. Kids learn fast even when traumatized. And the atmosphere changes. Things get calmer. Voices lower. Movement less. Smiles and comments. “This is good…”

Kasimi comes to me after we finished. Asks me to tap him. Just there in the meeting room while people move and talk. He sits down and before I start he says: You know, sometimes I am just not here. You can see that I look at you, but I don´t see you. It is like living in a dream of horror. I see those memories of the time when I was in the bush”. I tap him. He receives and gets calm. He says “Thank you” and leaves.

 Two days later when I am on my way in the bves car passing through downtown – I hear somebody calling out my name: “Gunilla!!!!” I turn towards the voice and I see Kasimi dressed in working clothes outside a mechanic workshop. He waves to me with a great smile. I get hilariously happy to see him smiling like that. We stop the car. Kasimi comes running up to us.

 “Habari gani” I ask – “How are you?”

 “I have woken up from those dreams” he says hastily. “I am present now. Even in school I can follow and I sleep without nightmares!”

That is for me one of those most beautiful moments of life. 

Peaceful Heart Network is starting a clinic for de-traumatisation with TTT in Bukavu in DR Congo in co-operation with the psychology department of the Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs (ULPGL).  The rector of this university, Mr Victor Nabino, is very dedicated to do something for his countrymen of whom so many  are traumatised after years of conflict and war (and a history of slavery, colonialism and dictatorship). According to him the society becomes more and more dangerous as a result of all the trauma that people are carrying inside. Aggression grows out of trauma. After a training that we held at the  university last February 2010 rector Nabino wrote:

“Many students continue to use the method of TTT for detraumatisation and the results are good according the testimonies of the beneficiaries. From my point of view I have also found that the level of aggression among the students have diminished after applying the technique.”

The clinic will start from the beginning of 2011. Apart from Mr Nabino our Trauma Tapping colleague Germando Moine Kagomba Barathi is responsible for the clinic. Mr Germando is a nurse and works with psychosocial support at BVES a well known organization rescuing and rehabilitating child soldiers and street children in Eastern Congo. BVES and it´s founder Mr Murhabazi Namegabe has also been nominated for The World´s Children´s Prize of 2011 (see: www.childrensworld.org).

We are now mobilizing funds to be able to buy the equipment needed for the clinic. If you can contribute with some resources, please let us know. Thank you!

Peaceful Heart Network´s  TTT-clinic in Bukavu is managed by Mr Germando Moine Kagomba Barathi. Here together with two former child soldiers at the BVES transit center where he works with psychosocial support.

During a couple of months myself and my colleague Ntabwoba Robert have been working as consultants for the Norwegian Church Aid/NCA  (an international NGO with support from among others SIDA- Swedish Development Aid). We have given trainings in Trauma Tapping Treatment to NCA´s partner organizations in the eastern part of DR Congo. That means in the conflict and war ridden provinces of North and South Kivu. Presently the situation is somewhat calm. Presidential election is to be held in June 2011 which can be a source for escalating tension. But we put our hope to PEACE for the Congolese people in the new year of 2011!!!

We held three-day workshops at seven different locations – from Goma in the north to Uvira in the south. A lot of traveling along rough roads (not always very safe), but also crossing the Lake Kivu to reach Goma (the capital of North Kivu)  from Bukavu (the capital of South Kivu). All of the participants work with different vulnerable groups: women who have been raped, widows, former child soldiers, people living with hiv/aids, Bambuti pygmies (who are heavily discriminated) and others.

The first journey out from Bukavu towards the place called Walungu did not start very well Just after some kilometres we met a truck – that at the same time is a “bus” –  all the  passengers on the back waving screaming: “Rudia! Rudia!!!!” (Go back! Go back!!) and making a sign with the side of the hand over their throats – meaning: they are killing people further along this road. The driver did turn back. Very fast. But after a kilometer somebody from Walungu called and said that now it was over. The attackers were gone. So the driver turned again! I can tell we did not feel safe. But for the Congolese in this area they are  like used  to situations like this. Ten minutes later “it is fine”. But inside you feel: roads are not always for transport, sometimes they are just a trap.

We treated ourselves there in the car, trying to calm down. And nothing happened . The attackers were gone. Nobody had been killed this time, “only” armed robbery . Two days before all passengers of a car were killed almost on the same spot. Poor Congolese. This is the reality.

The trainings were well appreciated. We had time enough to make sure that the participants knew how to treat with TTT and how to teach others how to do it. This was so called Training of Trainers. The last day of the workshops was done in the field with the respective organiZation´s beneficiaries. The Robert and myself were there as facilitators in the background just assisting if needed. Most of the times it went very well and everybody surprised how simple and efficient this method is.
A comment that appeared more than ones was: ”With this training we have realized that we are all traumatised” since also the participants themselves live under difficult and insecure circumstances. And they listen to many, many horrific stories told by their beneficiaries which makes them suffer from what is called “secondary trauma”.
Apart from TTT we also teach DO-In, a Japanese self-massage method (both methods are shown on video at the website www.peacefulheart.se).
When we did a follow up after some weeks we were more than astonished by how many people the participants had already treated and trained: for example in a place called Kalehe the 20 participants had treated at least 500 people in ten days time.

Here is a comment from one evaluation:
“In general we can say that all members of our association have been de-traumatised by and trained in TTT.
We must say that the advantages with this method are huge and its impact remarkable in the social lives of our members.
Some people who were sick and using medicines to ease the tension of their mind are now healed and thank greatly the initiators of this method. Other testify that they now feel relaxed and that they can have hope for the future” (from an organization called ASEFM, supporting vulnerable women, in Walungu, South Kivu)

Bukavu by Lake Kivu, the capital of South Kivu province.

Traffic jam in Bukavu.

Participant from LAV – “Let Africa Live”- in Bukavu practicing the TTT with girls rescued from the armed groups.

LAV in the town of Uvira give training to street children, former child soldiers and other vulnerable children.

Etienne, former child soldier, treating his teacher and trainer Mr Primo at LAV in Uvira.

A successful treatment! Congratulations!

The TTT is easy enough for a child to do it. They often learn it faster than the adults.

Discussing the drawing with the treatment points.

On the way to Kalehe where horrific stories of violence and atrocities are told.

Ntabwoba instruct the participants in Kalehe how to tap the healing points.

Do-In, a japanese self-massage, is very popular and releases tension in the body.

Exchanging treatment.

A curious spectator.

David presenting group work on how the TTT and Do-In can be used in the acitivies of  his organizations.

Participants from the training in Luhwindja, a distant place that have suffered from conflicting armed groups fighting, killing and looting.

With stiff fingers from hard work in the fields it is not always so easy to tap the right point.

One of the trauma tappers in Peaceful Heart Network, Ulf Sandström, is a great initiator. He came to Rwanda in October to start filming the activities of the trauma treatment. This film will help spreading the method even more and show its results. Below are some of the photos from that journey.
He initiated also the production of a wall calender showing the Trauma Tapping Treatment , to be distributed in Rwanda and Congo. If you also like it you can download it from the website www.peacefulheart.se
We are also planning for a proper research study on TTT to take steps towards making it so called “evidence based” which will make the method available also within the established health care systems of the western societies.

Trauma Tappers of Peaceful Heart Network, Ulf Sandström and Ntabwoba Robert, in Kiziguro, Rwanda.

The group of vulnerable women in Kiziguro supported by our partner organization Sevota. All of them are trauma tappers.

Robert Ntabwoba discussing issues of poverty and trauma with the women´s group in Kiziguro.

Tapping session in Cyuve, Rwanda.

Madame Nadine, the president of the Sevota women´s group in Musanze. She was the one to take initiative to extend the trauma treatment trainings to the remote village of Cuyve where she knew many people were in need of healing after years of atrocities.

Dance in Cyuve after tapping training.

Christine, the president of the women´s group in Cyuve and Gunilla Hamne celebrating joint efforts.

Ulf Sandström is documenting the activities of Trauma Tapping work in the Great Lakes region. Here in good company descending from Cyuve, below the Virunga vulcanoes.