So all year I have been accompanying the Mental Health Team from the regional office of Paz y Esperanza to the rural communities in the countryside around Ayacucho. While there we work with groups of women (and sometimes men) who have been affected in someway by the violence and internal armed conflict. Many people have asked me what we do in those groups. They are meant to provide a safe space for the affected people to learn about links in physical and mental health, support one anotherand walk in solidarity, process grief and feelings, as well as build a support network that will continue after we leave.
I thought I would give you all a glimpse into what one of these sessions looks like. First is location. In Loricocha we have been meeting at Mamá Rosalinda´s house, and in Cangari they have a community building up near the Catholic Church. Next is language. Most of the people victimized by both the Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) and the Military´s counter insurgency where Quechua speaking people, therefore most of the people in our groups are Quechua speaking. Some of them speak both Quechua and Castellano or Spanish. Bye the way the spanish spoken in Peru is not Castillian Spanish, but they call it Castellano for giggles. The team utilizes Quechua though because for most of our groups this is their native tongue.
So this is what the fourth of eight sessions looks like. First there is a welcome and check-in to share feelings and what they have been doing and what has been happening in the community done by Milagros or Yudy as we gather in a circle. Then there is some sort of dynamica or icebreaker. Perúvians love a good icebreaker. The Cangari folks love to dance around.
Next, while in the circle, Yudy, Milagros or I will talk about negative feelings and that sometimes we have these. That negative feelings, like sadness, resentment, furiosity, and anger are part of our being human. We then open up the circle for the women and men to share some of their negative feelings and if they want to (usually they do) when they have felt these. The sharing is usually followed by some exploratory reflection.
Next, we bring out the newest PyE Team members, the titteres or puppets,and let the people give them names. There is Suzanna and Omar the people puppets, and Patricio and Como tú the Puppy Puppets. Yudy, Milagros, and I then put on a socio-drama for the group using the puppets. The basic theme is Omar and Suzanna (the people puppets) are fighting. Patrick the puppy wants to separate them, make them stop. He asks other puppets he meets along the way for help with this difficult situation, but everyone is too busy. ¨I need to eat, I am too skinny, their fight is not my problem anyway!¨ There are alot of Good Samaratain tie ins here to the previous session. Omar and Susanna´s fight grows so outrageous and physical that they fall into a fire that an older person is cooking on in the kitchen and the house goes up in flames, Omar, Susanna, and the older person parish. Patricio the Puppy explains, the next day, to his puppet friends that he asked for help, that he carried water back and forth all night to put out the flames. It is at this point that all the puppets want to help, and offer food, and their hands to help with the accompaniament and burial. Patricio closes out his narration by explaining ¨The mourners saw that we all suffer for not being supportive in difficult moments we all have to live at some point.¨
Then Milagros leads a group reflection. There is a reflection and exploration process after just about each component of the worshops or sessions. This makes things more than fun and games, but a place to begin processing feelings and memories. A place to start in moving from being a victim to a survivor of atrocities and events that happened 27 years ago. Some of the questions that guide this reflection of the puppet socio-drama are ¨What happened in the story?, Where did solidarity and support exist in this story?, and How can you help en a case of pain, suffering like what happened in this story?
The focus is confronting difficult situations, expressing feelings, and gauging solidarity and support within the group. This is important because we have 8 sessions together and then the group is to continue meeting on their own, utilizing the support and care skills they already had and the ones we explored together. The PyE Mental Health team does bi-annual follow-up visits with these groups.
To close out the session we engage in a group ritual. Each member writes down or illustrates their negative feelings or things they have holding inside on a small card. Then outside a small fire is lit, and as they leave they place their card on the fire as a symbolic way of expressing but also relieving some of their negative feelings, symbolizing leaving these feelings, and starting a new stage of life. Milagros, Yudy, and I accompany this ritual with words of hope, about mood, and to lift self esteem, but also about the feeling to work through this stage and leave it behind, inorder to begin a new one.
I thought I would give you all a glimpse into what one of these sessions looks like. First is location. In Loricocha we have been meeting at Mamá Rosalinda´s house, and in Cangari they have a community building up near the Catholic Church. Next is language. Most of the people victimized by both the Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) and the Military´s counter insurgency where Quechua speaking people, therefore most of the people in our groups are Quechua speaking. Some of them speak both Quechua and Castellano or Spanish. Bye the way the spanish spoken in Peru is not Castillian Spanish, but they call it Castellano for giggles. The team utilizes Quechua though because for most of our groups this is their native tongue.
So this is what the fourth of eight sessions looks like. First there is a welcome and check-in to share feelings and what they have been doing and what has been happening in the community done by Milagros or Yudy as we gather in a circle. Then there is some sort of dynamica or icebreaker. Perúvians love a good icebreaker. The Cangari folks love to dance around.
Next, while in the circle, Yudy, Milagros or I will talk about negative feelings and that sometimes we have these. That negative feelings, like sadness, resentment, furiosity, and anger are part of our being human. We then open up the circle for the women and men to share some of their negative feelings and if they want to (usually they do) when they have felt these. The sharing is usually followed by some exploratory reflection.
Next, we bring out the newest PyE Team members, the titteres or puppets,and let the people give them names. There is Suzanna and Omar the people puppets, and Patricio and Como tú the Puppy Puppets. Yudy, Milagros, and I then put on a socio-drama for the group using the puppets. The basic theme is Omar and Suzanna (the people puppets) are fighting. Patrick the puppy wants to separate them, make them stop. He asks other puppets he meets along the way for help with this difficult situation, but everyone is too busy. ¨I need to eat, I am too skinny, their fight is not my problem anyway!¨ There are alot of Good Samaratain tie ins here to the previous session. Omar and Susanna´s fight grows so outrageous and physical that they fall into a fire that an older person is cooking on in the kitchen and the house goes up in flames, Omar, Susanna, and the older person parish. Patricio the Puppy explains, the next day, to his puppet friends that he asked for help, that he carried water back and forth all night to put out the flames. It is at this point that all the puppets want to help, and offer food, and their hands to help with the accompaniament and burial. Patricio closes out his narration by explaining ¨The mourners saw that we all suffer for not being supportive in difficult moments we all have to live at some point.¨
Then Milagros leads a group reflection. There is a reflection and exploration process after just about each component of the worshops or sessions. This makes things more than fun and games, but a place to begin processing feelings and memories. A place to start in moving from being a victim to a survivor of atrocities and events that happened 27 years ago. Some of the questions that guide this reflection of the puppet socio-drama are ¨What happened in the story?, Where did solidarity and support exist in this story?, and How can you help en a case of pain, suffering like what happened in this story?
The focus is confronting difficult situations, expressing feelings, and gauging solidarity and support within the group. This is important because we have 8 sessions together and then the group is to continue meeting on their own, utilizing the support and care skills they already had and the ones we explored together. The PyE Mental Health team does bi-annual follow-up visits with these groups.
To close out the session we engage in a group ritual. Each member writes down or illustrates their negative feelings or things they have holding inside on a small card. Then outside a small fire is lit, and as they leave they place their card on the fire as a symbolic way of expressing but also relieving some of their negative feelings, symbolizing leaving these feelings, and starting a new stage of life. Milagros, Yudy, and I accompany this ritual with words of hope, about mood, and to lift self esteem, but also about the feeling to work through this stage and leave it behind, inorder to begin a new one.
Finally, the session is closed out with each member checking in about how they are feeling. Then each member comes forward and makes a knot on the quipu signifying their attendance at this session. A quipu is an ancient Incan counting tool...a length of rope and various knots were used as a means of counting things like crops. It is much like a rope abicus. 
Then we all share a communal meal that both the people and the PyE Team has brought elements of.
Then we all share a communal meal that both the people and the PyE Team has brought elements of.
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