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Healing Torture Survivors
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We’ve seen the headlines about the torture of prisoners and citizens in Iraq. But human-rights abuses can be found in many countries. That’s why a group of counselors in Texas decided to offer those fleeing torture a place to heal, and begin anew. |
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SCRIPT:
This former duplex apartment in Dallas, Texas is now an international gateway to freedom.
Willy / Torture Victim: “Had I remained over there, only God knows what would have happened. They’d be singing my ‘Candles in the Wind.’ I would be dead, probably, by now.”
Willy is a survivor of torture. He was jailed and abused because he drew political cartoons for an underground newspaper in Cameroon.
Pat Henderson / Volunteer: “I can’t begin to understand their pain.”
United Methodist Pat Henderson volunteers at the Center for Survivors of Torture. The center offers counseling and other assistance for torture victims seeking asylum.
Pat Henderson: “It kind of breaks your heart to
know that someone has gone through the things that they’ve had to go
through.”
Anita says she was arrested and tortured in Zimbabwe because she was a
women’s rights and AIDS activist.
Anita / Torture victim: “People beaten, kidnapped, disappearing, torture…and all sorts of things are happening, so I always pray for my family.”
Arts and crafts, field trips, and massages are part of the recovery process.
Pat Henderson: “It’s just really kind of helping them relax a little bit, I think.”
But such deep scars are slow to heal.
Dr. Manuel Balbona / Director, Center for Survivors of Torture: “The physical part usually is recoverable, even if you lose a hand or a finger, well, you adapt to it. The psychological scars last a lifetime.”
Pat Henderson: “You see them enjoying. And maybe
for that day or that hour, they’re forgetting about what they’ve been
through.”
The center estimates half a million torture survivors now live in the
U.S.… and often leave their families behind while they search for a
better life.
TAG:
The non-profit Center for Survivors of Torture gets much of its funding from the United Nations. There are 25 centers across the United States helping abuse victims.
For more information contact: http://www.cvt.org.