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We are thrilled to announce the recent launch of the life skills and leadership class for high school students at Bright Horizon Children's Home (BHCH). With the healing skills learned through the Safe Embrace Trauma Healing (SETH) training program in January 2015, local teachers are now equipped with skills to address symptoms of trauma, empower students to develop self-confidence and emotional intelligence, and promote healing, leadership, and personal transformation.
We are incredibly grateful for BHCH teachers' efforts in spreading grassroots healing skills to communities in Nepal.  Our grassroots partners know firsthand that computer literacy can unlock unlimited possibilities - for learning, creating, sharing, exploring, and connecting individuals, communities, and economies to the digital world.
And when computer literacy classes are paired with a psychosocial activity like creative arts therapy, the result is a well-rounded psycho-educational program that develops a broad range of skills while also invoking emotional healing and creative expression. It's a holistic approach that we often refer to as head, hands, and heart - or, education, skills-building, and healing. An approach that understands that complex problems are not solved via single-issue interventions but rather by comprehensive solutions... and that psychosocial support is foundational to sustainable transformation. Our partner organization, Lola Children's Home, provides comprehensive support for nearly 30 orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. With your support, kids now have access to weekly computer literacy and music classes. Lola's executive director, Abebe, recently updated us on the progress of this new curriculum which, so far, has been successful in teaching kids tangible skills. Under the tutelage of a mentor who teaches both computer skills and music, they kids now know how to:
A big thank you to our generous community for supporting this program! Your contributions are building confidence, technical and social skills, and healing opportunities that will have a lasting impact on these children and their community!
By Amy Paulson
There is a small pond in Matatirtha, a rural village resting high above Kathmandu valley, whose name in Nepali means Mother Earth. On Mother’s Day, orphans come to the pond to look at their reflections in the mirror of the water and see the face of their mothers.
It is this serene and spiritual place of Mother Earth that we journeyed to earlier this January to empower healing, dignity, joy, and transformation for the students and teachers at Bright Horizon Children’s Home (BHCH), a school and safe haven for nearly 300 orphans and vulnerable children from the poorest, most remote areas of Nepal. Each morning, 25 teachers, caregivers, and staff arrived to a freezing classroom, greeted warmly with smiles and hugs by our co-founder and creator of the Safe Embrace Trauma Healing (SETH) program, Elayne Kalila Doughty, MA, MFT. Originally developed as a grassroots healing model for caregivers who work with female survivors of sexual and gender based violence, the SETH curriculum has since been adapted to work with anyone whose trauma originates from the challenges faced by communities in fragile settings: conflict, abuse, human trafficking, disease, abandonment, extreme poverty, and more. Co-facilitating the training was Charna Cassell, MA, MFT. Last December, Charna joined our SETH L2 global activism program where therapists, social workers, and other healing professionals learn the SETH curriculum and how to teach it in a global setting, fundraise among their communities as healing activists, and volunteer their skills at projects around the world. After one week of training, a second week of observation and coaching, and the launching of a leadership and life skills course for early high school students taught by the teachers most interested in facilitating healing trainings with other organizations and communities in Nepal, we achieved the following outcomes: 
The drumbeat gets louder. The kids toss and turn. Their bodies contour in different shapes. They use their strength to build human pyramids. The crowd applauds. The performers bow down. The smiles are priceless. It seems like a good show for a circus, but it’s a breakthrough in a children’s home. Maisha, our children’s home partner in Kenya, cares for twenty-two children who were orphaned mainly by HIV/AIDS, conflict and extreme poverty. They are provided with shelter, food, and education in a semi-rural farm environment outside of Nairobi. These kids have gone through immense grief and trauma. Aside from basic necessities, they have unique psychosocial needs. In 2013, Maisha introduced weekly drumming and acrobatic classes taught by local Kenyan professionals. One of the teachers they partnered with was Peter Waithaka, more commonly known as "Doc". Doc was a former member of the Kenya national acrobatic team called African Sakata Acrobats. He is currently a social entrepreneur, working on other projects that address educational and life skill needs among Kenya's underserved youth. With the help of Doc and local drumming teacher, Robinson Owino, or "Robbie", the project has been a success. The classes not only help the kids learn how to do somersaults and synchronize the beat of the drums, it also helps develop their self-esteem. The kids learn about teamwork and the value of support in a community. These classes are also good for the community because they provide employment to the locals as well as inspiration. "The smiles they give us after learning a new acrobatic stunt or pyramid give us strength to persevere and be there for next class," said Doc. The teachers have become role models for the kids to look up to. And the experience brings joy to the children’s lives by providing a fun and healthy environment for them to heal. One of the Maisha girls was homeless, orphaned and exploited by the age of nine. Five years later, despite making overwhelming progress in adapting to home life at Maisha, she still suffers from deep emotional trauma. She has a difficult time focusing in school and at home. Yet for the first time, her teachers are seeing her blossom in the acrobatic class.
They observe that some of the other youth, who are academically challenged and started school at a later age, are also doing well in these classes. Acquiring new skills and thriving in a new environment has helped them believe in their own potential. Our hope is that these experiences will guide them to make positive choices in the future. In other parts of the world, Circus therapy is proving to be an effective tool for psychotherapeutic healing. Clowning about has helped boost confidence and encourage camaraderie among Finland’s disaffected youth as well as the elderly. Women in London who are suffering from depression are learning to fly trapeze while building their confidence and strength, and moving them towards employment. Young people at risk have discovered a safe haven to find their balance at Halifax’s Circus Circle. Life can be a great balancing act and at some point, people find themselves walking on a tightrope. But it’s inspiring to know that there are many ways to help people make it all the way across such as teaching acrobatics to a little girl in Kenya to help her believe in herself.  (Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
We are the proud recipients of a generous grant from Stanford University's Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society! After a rigorous vetting process led by students as part of a course called "Theories of Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Nonprofit Sector," The Gracias Foundation was selected based on its trauma healing program for survivors of sexual and gender based violence. Stanford students also chose to grant additional funding for building capacity and growing the impact of The Gracias Foundation. Gracias President, Amy Paulson, accepted the grant in June at an event on the Stanford campus, together with students, class and department faculty, and six other Bay Area nonprofits who also received grants this year. Thank you to Stanford University for believing in the efficacy of our work! We are deeply honored and humbled to receive this grant award. Read on for the Press Release
(Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
This January, we're turning two! We are thrilled by how much we've achieved together, and YOU are at the center of it all. So, a huge Thank You (Gracias) to everyone! We hope you'll enjoy our birthday video!  By Amy Paulson (Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
One of the biggest lessons that I’ve had to learn in life – and in the world of international development work – is to let go. I’m a Type A control freak so this lesson isn’t one that comes easily for me. Rather, it’s a constant process. For those who knew me in my former life as a finance manager, with my color-coded spreadsheets and perfect PowerPoint slides, this comes as no surprise. For those who don’t know me – you’ve now been warned. 
By Rachel Crowther (Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been helping put together the Gifts That Give Back webpage for this site. As I was thinking about colours, shapes and styles, I also started to wonder why creativity is so essential to life and well-being? Why should someone give the gift of music or acrobatics classes when necessities like food, shelter and education seem more fundamental? 
(Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
It started with 18 teenagers in Ethiopia, orphaned by AIDS and living with the virus themselves. Before antiretroviral therapy (ART) became accessible in 2005, our partner was more of a hospice than a children’s home. Now, kids live well into their teens and beyond. These particular teens were the first from our local partner NGO to move from institutional life at a larger compound to smaller, family-like transition homes last year. The purpose? For them to learn how to do just that - transition to the next phase of life: adulthood and independence.  (Reposted from The Gracias Foundation, now called Global Gratitude Alliance)
Many of us feel confusion, lack motivation, feel blue or face traumatic life events at some stage in our lives. We are lucky in the developed word to have access to help and support to resolve these potentially debilitating issues, via friends, health professionals, the internet, self-help groups, therapy, and many more. Academic studies have long since proven that survivors of trauma, especially from events in early childhood, are more likely to suffer from emotional and mental challenges later in life. These challenges not only put their own futures at risk, they can also prevent survivors from raising emotionally healthy children of their own. And hence the cycle of trauma can continue from generation to generation. |
