Blog 1: FamConnect & Trauma-Informed Training
When participating in and learning from the trauma-informed training, the areas that I found particularly interesting were the following: understanding the child context, the importance of the parent-child relationship, temperament and its relation to parenting styles, the effects of toxic stress and trauma, and finally (and most notably) the cultural considerations when working in early childhood mental health. For its practical application to the specific NGO that I am working with, FamConnect, I found it most beneficial to look at the latter two. Although the population that FamConnect works with focuses predominantly on older children and adolescents, I found that these trainings are applicable to populations of any age.
Firstly, I would like to focus on toxic stress and trauma in the context of girls’ education in Kenya. I find that in reference to the population FamConnect works with, what is most notable or applicable would be the concept of traumatic stress and responses to trauma. Young girls and adolescents that FamConnect works with in Kenya are often victims of some form of gender-based violence. One of the sources provided in our brief was an article written by Kaamilah Moola for the Feminist Equal Rights Alliance that spoke specifically to the issue of such violence and its effects on mental health. She mentioned that there is a key factor, culturally, of maintaining marital units and domestic traditions that take precedence over all else. As a result, discussion of any violence, abuse, or general mistreatment as related to the maintenance of said traditions has diminished significance and is often left unacknowledged. The emotional and psychological impacts of this carry over to heightened rates of depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation or tendencies. The lack of recognition for the struggles and trauma many of these young girls experience can understandably lead to feelings of helplessness and fear discussed in the trauma-informed training. Such sentiments could plausibly, in turn, act as a major deterrent in other areas of life such as academic success and even the general pursuit of education to begin in and of itself. These are important considerations that my group must keep in mind when looking for plausible interventions that we can propose for managing symptoms of depression and anxiety in secondary school girls as it relates to gender-based violence.
Secondly, I would like to focus on cultural considerations, which go hand in hand with the notions of stress and trauma previously mentioned. The training spoke about the concept of cultural competency, and how the term and notion of cultural humility provides more room for the understanding that people, culture, and situations are ever-changing. One could argue that the difficulties in getting young girls to improve and prioritize their academic performance in part come from home environments that may not be particularly supportive. If the societal norm and expectation prioritizes marriage and domesticity, it could prove difficult to deviate from these paths which are heavily ingrained in years of tradition. As a group member who is working with FamConnect, it is of the utmost importance to keep this in mind for how we implement or suggest varying interventions. Additionally, it is important to keep cultural considerations in mind when interviewing the teachers and students who we will be working with. I found it particularly beneficial to look at the examples of how to conduct interviews with individuals who come from different personal backgrounds than your own. We want to ensure that we are approaching the individual, their family, and their larger community in a respectful and collaborative manner to ensure that we are best assisting them while also fostering connections that can often ameliorate the efficacy of the preventative measures we are putting in place.
I feel that the training really provided some background knowledge and concepts that are key to creating the best possible partnership with FamConnect. More specifically, I find that I was able to make a lot of connections between the training and the readings Lilian included in our brief. The ability to tie all of this background knowledge together allows for a cohesive foundation that my group can work from, and I am excited to see how our work progresses!
