October 2000
Child Trauma Counseling Centre—Kosova
The Child Trauma Counseling Project was started in October 1999 with 10 children. Operating in Peje, Kosova, it was the idea of a Kosovar woman who had been in exile in Albania.
Out of her concern was born the Ketchup Club (Kids Enjoying Through Compassion and Hope), which is designed to tackle the effects of trauma in the children’s lives through group work and individual counseling.
The name “Ketchup” serves to remove the stigma of “trauma counseling.” It also encourages the element of fun, which is so important for the children.
At present there are over 75 children in the Ketchup Club.
The Effects of Trauma
Over 70% of Albanian Kosovars were driven from their homes last year by Serb forces. While many men were selected for execution or imprisonment, many women, children and the elderly were forced into exile on foot. They spent the spring and early summer in Albania, Macedonia or Montenegro, and they returned after the Serbs withdrew, many to find their houses partially or completely destroyed.
Observing the gross mistreatment of people (including execution), the period of exile, the loss of family, the destruction of their homes and possessions, has caused a large number of children to suffer major trauma.
The effects of the trauma are that the children no longer behave normally—they have lost their childhood. Many do not understand what they have seen, heard or felt. As the families busily try to rebuild their lives, the children do not receive the care they need to overcome the effects of the trauma.
This situation has created not only a huge need, but also a sense of urgency. If the issue of trauma is not tackled early on, it manifests itself in behavioral problems that can continue and worsen in adulthood.
Goals for Recovery
- Help children recover from the trauma of war and evacuation.
- Fit them back into their local community.
- Contribute towards the creation of a civil society in Kosova.
Objectives
- Provide a safe, warm environment.
- Assess the children’s degree of trauma.
- Offer places to those who have been most affected.
- Provide group therapy with games, songs, stories, and outings.
- Provide individual help through drawing, writing and one-to-one counseling.
- Build rapport with their families.
- Return them, when ready, back to their communities.
Benefit to the Community
As well as the direct benefit to the individual children and their families, there is also abenefit to the community. Without help, many of these children would require future support from the community. Instead, they will now be able to benefit the community around them and even support others who have not benefited from the project.
Erik and Joanna Stensland, Bethany missionaries working in Kosova, recommended this project to us. They write, This group has really done a great job of ministering to the children of Peja. Right across the street from their center is a school, and last year during the war, the children were rounded up and forced to watch 16 men executed. This, combined with the trauma of seeing family members killed, their houses burned and having to flee the country, has left a real impact on these kids.
Maureen and Diane, who run the center, overflow with love and compassion. They have won the hearts of the parents and have even had a ministry into the NGO community where they have been sharing their faith and starting Bible studies. It is quite an exciting ministry.
