We recently had the honor of hosting Dr. Becca Johnson and Melissa Herrmann, Courage House Program Director, here in Tanzania for a week. They did a really wonderful job walking our staff through the basics of trauma-focused therapy. Culture makes generalizations difficult, but this therapy plan seemed to really make sense within Tanzanian culture and everyone at the seminar seemed to soak in every bit of information. As with most countries in East Africa, being forced into prostitution is not the only trauma children are enduring. We were privileged to invite several different ministries that work with kids of various backgrounds to share in this training. I’m excited to see how all of Moshi will be impacted as everyone starts to use the tools they gained from this training.
As we were leaving the seminar on the last day, with all of the Courage House staff squeezed into a vehicle that was too small to accommodate them comfortably (typical Tanzanian way), they gushed on how happy they were to have learned so much and to have a better understanding on how to help the girls. It reminded me of this proverb:
“Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.” ~ Proverbs 3:13,18
Truly we are all happy to have gained wisdom and understanding this week. I believe it will be a tree that takes root and continues to bear fruit in the ministry of the Courage House.
Lauren Edens