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Emotional Health training
In August of 2022 a young woman in Chennai India tried to kill herself, trying to end the mental suffering of her depression and escape her isolation. This was a shock to many people around her including the staff of the learning centers we partner with. This young woman had been in the learning center program since kindergarten and had just graduated college. From the outside looking in, everything seemed fine; she was successful in her job, had a group of friends, and was active in her church.
So, what happened?
Why did she feel like this was her only option? These questions had our partners in India buzzing, trying to figure out how to respond and prevent this from happening to others. This was one of the catalysts that led to my new training for pastors and learning center staff: emotional heath training and trauma informed care. This training focuses on the effects of childhood trauma, emotional health, and how this can interrupt educational, social, cognitive, and emotional development.
I have had the opportunity over the past year to travel to India, Nepal, Singapore, and Vietnam to conduct research on how to create an effective and meaningful training. It was evident to me that in each location, the locals are aware of this emotional health crisis, but do not know how to approach the topic, as talking about feelings and trauma are a taboo subject in these areas. Not to mention, if they did bring it up, they lack the tools to help children walk through their trauma.
3 Focus Areas of the Emotional Health Training:
1. Why talking about our feelings is important to brain development and overall health.
2. How to identify emotions and trauma-informed feeling.
3. Activities and tools that can be used to express feelings and trauma in a safe and healthy way to learn how to cope with powerful emotions.
I am very excited for the future of this new addition to CDI and how it interacts with the work we are currently doing around the world.
If you would like to discuss with me more about emotional health and trauma informed care, please contact me at Emotions@CDI4KIDS.org I would love to hear from you! Thank you for your prayers and if you feel led to donating to this project just click the button below.
-Zac
The Problem
Many poor villages have families just like you and I; they are made up moms and dads who love their children.
However, the depth of poverty and oppressive systems have torn through these families leaving behind collateral damage and challenges too big for them to solve on their own.
Most of the time, they are so desperate that they cannot see past today because they are simply struggling to survive.
Old Thinking
Most organizations arrive on the scene and provide a program designed to address a particular problem, like education.
Funding for such a new elaborate program is too big for the village to manage, so the program comes with outside funding.
The village becomes dependent on donors and never transitions to being responsible for providing a proper education for their own children.
A Better Solution
Based on decades of experience and research, we have developed an innovative framework that provides the structure, processes and tools necessary for communities to develop their own children by leveraging and mobilizing their local assets.
This approach acknowledges the value of the local people and eliminates dependency on resources from outside of the village.
