Posted in February 2014

We received a generous donation from MS&AD Unison Smile Club.
The donation was used for improving the facilities for “Child Therapy Rooms” in Mathare informal settlement in Nairobi, the capital of the Republic of Kenya. JCCP runs and maintains the therapy rooms as one of the psychosocial support activities for vulnerable population.

We greatly appreciate the sincere support from MS&AD Unison Smile Club.

 
　In the “Child Therapy Rooms”, counselors selected from the local people take on a main role to provide counseling to victims of crimes and violence as well as local people and children who are at great risk of those crimes and violence.
Currently, there are seven therapy rooms managed by JCCP.

　All therapy rooms are equipped with toys as counseling tools upon offering counseling to children. For little children and children who have been traumatized, it is difficult for them to express their feelings by their talk. It is not easy for counselors to understand the feelings of those children. The counselors need to carefully observe the behavior of the children while they are playing with toys and to presume the main causes of their problems and to obtain the necessary information for counseling. This process is very essential for counseling the children.

　The equipments and toys of the therapy rooms are consumable. Some of them are worn out or got too old since children use them every day. For that reason, we have offered to increase and improve the equipments by supplying new toys for more effective counseling.

　Thanks to the donation this time, we can satisfy the demands of counselors and provide more efficient psychosocial support for children.

　I met her when she was 8 years old in February 2012. The child could not communicate; she couldn’t speak to anyone and instead used gestures to express her feelings. There were those days she could smile and on another day got very hostile. For example, whenever she wanted to pass a good message, she could run to me smiling. By reading the body language, I could tell when she needed something. Upon asking her what she wanted, she quickly picked a pen and a notebook. When I asked her if she knew how to write, she could simply nod. This habit went on for quite a number of sessions.

 　Later, I invited her mother just to check if she could speak in her mother’s presence, but she never spoke. The mother confirmed to me that she never talked. She also revealed to me that her daughter was defiled at the age of six years. During exploration, she never told me about this, but in the 9th session, she disclosed. After having three joined sessions with the mother, I decided to refer the client to Kenya Institute of Special Education for further evaluation. She was taken through several tests and the institution concluded that she was a normal child and should be taken to a normal school but in a special unit. We managed to secure a vacant in a primary school in the neighboring area. This was in June 2012; I kept a constant follow-up with the school. On August 2012, I requested the school administration for a progress report, but there was no much change. She still could not speak, at some point, I thought she was mute and may never speak, but I did not give up on her. I was encouraged by the fact that her hearing was perfect. People who are mute are in most cases hearing impaired.

　I decided to take her back to my sessions on Saturdays. Through observation, I realized that she needed more than just being talked to. I proposed to the school administration and the mother to allow me to take her to my therapy room and they anonymously agreed. When in the therapy room, I allowed her access to the equipment, to enjoy all sorts of play and even art (by drawing).

　This was the defining moment. She started speaking to the dolls, and I was personally very surprised. She kept talking to the dolls and when it was time to go home, she begged me to allow her to carry some dolls to her home. It was a hard task convincing her not to carry any. She left the room crying, but I promised that she can always visit the therapy room. I have had several sessions with her and I realized that the defilement caused her trauma and she developed fear towards adults and that explained why she never spoke. She found refuge in the therapy room with the dolls on realization that the dolls are harmless. Over the sessions, she has been able to defeat her fears and she is now not afraid of speaking. This just got to show the importance of therapy room equipment in regard to child counseling.