By Abdullahi Alhassan, and Ummusalma Sani, Kaduna
An Expert working with Federal University Dutsin-ma Katsina state Mallam Barde Dayyabu Yusuf, has advocated for the establishment of community counselling clinics
on trauma resilience.
Mallam Dayyabu was speaking at a three- day workshop organized by Equal Access International Nigeria, in Kaduna with the theme,”Basic Trauma Resilience and Psychosocial First Aid “
He said “we are trying to set up listening centers in the communites were people can come and share their experiences and that will be guided appropriately,to share experiences of what they are going through.
“Because we reliase that people are going through alot of things, alot of things are happening, what people want is someone that will listen to them,and we don’t have such people within the communites,” he noted.
“We want to see how such clinics can be set up in the communites where people can meet and discuss their problems,” he continued.
Mallam Dayyabu further explained that, “alot of things are happening basically in different parts of Nigeria where every part of the country has its traumatic experience to share, for example, the NorthEast has Boko Haram, the Northwest banditry and kidnappers,” he stressed.
He maintained that, “alot of people have experienced events that are traumatic in nature and most of them don’t even have time and people that will listen to them to relieve their tensions so people are liking alot of things that’s why we have people growing up from depression some into what we called sucieded tendency as result of what they are going through.
Barde Yusuf enumerated that “so I think the reasons that alot of things have been happening that has been death of love ones, is normal if someones died through sickness and stop’s like that gradually you have seen his courpse and with time it goes but this one,people merchenting people, people killing peoples, people taking people into captivity, quadtive activities really alot of things people are over whelmed.
He called on the Society that “alot of things have to do in the community,needs to be sensitize the communities, either the communities gatekeepers the stakeholders, they’re need to know that alot of things are happening let them come up and you know like their are issues.
“That even at the community their are people that don’t want to say it ,like the cases of rape,due to culture,due to issue of segmetazation,due to issue of shaming, people don’t want to come and say it so when ever it happens it mess down only to the victim and her immediate family the perpetrator is always covered,
“Sometimes the hole story is even covered but the victim is going to alot of things so we feel that they have to come out and say it,became an issue she will not became married people will be looking at her so we need to be sensitize and Know that when we say it we bring out the perpetrator it prevent other perpetrator from doing it and our little ones will live safer than they do.
Also participates Maryam Muhammad
So canditely this training is opt in the scenes that is talking about issue that’s their we don’t want to talk about it, that’s trauma people are traumatize but they don’t even know they are traumatize or people are traumatize and don’t know where to go for help.
“People are traumatize and instead of getting help they are stigmatized so you see this is something that been there but we don’t take interest so as a participant here were been thought on how to recognize trauma which is separate from stress.
“Stress can lead to trauma but we only know about stress we don’t take interest in trauma so we have been thought about how to identify and differentiate between stress and trauma and also how to give an listening ears to a traumatize person and how we can listen to that person not make a judgement listen and see what we can do to give support.
“We have learned so many things because like I have said before I’m able to now differentiate between stress and trauma and also been thought some basic things on how to recognized a traumatize person and how to give that first aid before referring to a more qualified person so this is something that l have plan to go back into my community to see how I can setup a small listening group.
“So that when people are traumatize they can be confidentially come because confidentiality matters so that, that person knows that when she or he come to me nobody is going to hear it,is safe for that person to talk about it at least we can see how we can support that person and note the person get the help she or he want.
Another participant Binta Salisu from Kano State,said” l learn many things in Trauma,and how to counsell a traumatized victim, through this workshop training,l believe if l go back to my community l can be able to counsell any person that is traumatized in my community when ever the need arises.
