Our inaugural Men and Boys' Trauma Project closes with a special ceremony

This week, we brought our very first Men and Boys’ Trauma Project to a fitting end with a ceremony which honoured the 30 participants’ achievements over the past three months.

The men and boys had taken part in activities such as art therapy, English classes, psychological counselling, recreational games and community awareness, enabling them to heal from past trauma together, learn new skills and build their self-confidence.

During the ceremony, they were presented with gifts and certificates to acknowledge their personal growth, while they also performed songs and poems, and displayed their impressive artwork for friends and family to see.

Using their newly acquired skills, many of the 30 participants also wrote their own messages about the project, with one saying, “Learning English was really fun.” Another wrote: “It has been wonderful.”

The project, held at Domiz 2 camp for Syrian refugees, was designed to encourage healing through the sharing of past traumas. It was delivered in partnership with Khaima, whose Executive Director Pfr. Andreas Goerlich joined us for the event, and said: “It’s very touching to see the changes that this project has made to these men and boys. We strongly believe that they are as vulnerable as anyone else and need our assistance.”

Although the Lotus Flower mainly supports women and girls, we know that men and boys have also suffered terribly during years of conflict. Many of the men saw the atrocities committed by IS with their own eyes, and were beaten or threatened themselves. Others saw women being subjected to violence and abuse, and even innocent men being beheaded. Although they locked away their trauma for many years, intense feelings of anger, hurt and fear inevitably built up, which until now they have had no way of articulating or working through.

During the project, the men and boys were able to talk about their feelings in a non-judgmental environment, seek psychosocial support from our mental health team and express their emotions through the power of song, poetry and art.

This groundbreaking project has been incredibly important to us, and with it being so well received by the men and boys, we are now looking to begin another round with our partners soon. Please do support us if you can, as the more money we can raise, the more vulnerable people we can reach this year…