THARCE-Gulu
Trauma Healing and Reflection Center
THARCE center
Northern Uganda is one of the most traumatized places on earth. Low life expectancy, shockingly high suicide rates, limited educational opportunities, and crushing poverty are everyday realities for this small part of Africa. The over 20 years of war waged by the Lord’s Resistance Army robbed many of their childhoods and continues to erode their sense of safety and peace of mind. We have interviewed local people and professionals in the field of trauma healing to ascertain what works best. We have examined where other ngos have succeeded and failed. Our plans include incorporating all we have learned to make this a place staffed with Ugandans where people feel free to drop in, to bring their children and to feel at home. Our guiding principle and pledge to the people of Gulu is “Nothing about us without us”. (more…)
Donate
For decades the people of Uganda have suffered from the affects of war, abuse, and poverty. Join us in our effort to bring healing and security to a people deprived of it for generations.
Homebuilding
One of the primary goals for those who went to Gulu on the initial THARCE women’s trip was to build houses for the most vulnerable war affected members of the community. Not only is housing one of the significant needs of the community, house-building also provided us with a pretext for spending time actually close to the people, talking to them, seeing how they live, and hearing their stories. The women contributed approximately $4000 including airfare and the investment of building materials. $200 per house went to former child soldiers for the labor and expertise to help build it. (more…)
Beads of Hope
Lucy was abducted when she was 12 years old, sexually abused and given to a 24 year old man. She became pregnant when she was only 13, and since then she has gone on to start a successful business, gathering women of her community to support one another as they make up for the time they’ve lost and raise the families they have been left with after the war.
Beads of Hope is the fruit of her efforts, and those of the women she has embraced. These beautiful women are all formerly abducted children—child mothers– some with HIV, some widows, who were forced to carry guns while living on the run in the bush of Uganda, and now they sit together and spend their time creating paper beads and sharing their stories in solidarity. (more…)
