Towards peace of mind

Kosovo has suffered from war and terror for decades. The North of Kosovo was the most affected.  Almost the whole area was burned down, 90% of the population was driven out and over a 1,000 people were killed, amongst them more than a hundred children and young people under the age of 20.

Since 2008, the War Trauma Foundation has been working on a programme for schools, together with the local Centre for Promotion of Education (QPEA). The programme focuses on psychosocial support for vulnerable children and their families. 

School-based programs in Kosovo and the Northern Caucasus provide training to teachers, school counsellors and parents to help them recover from their own war experiences and to create a supportive and caring environment for the recovery and healthy development of school children.

Teachers, school counsellors and parents receive training to help them recover from their own war experiences and to create a supportive and caring environment for the recovery and healthy development of school children ages 6-16 years. In 2010, ten new trainers received training, who in turn, trained approximately 600 people at 20 new schools in Drenas, Skenderaj, and Mitrovica. A welcome new addition to this project is that children with serious mental health problems and their families are now receiving professional support from two professional psycho-pedagogic counselling centres housed within the schools themselves.  Mobile psychosocial clinics are also reaching out to satellite schools and are able to serve even the most isolated and deprived families.

The programme is showing promising results, as the programme has raised awareness and decreased stigma for children and families who need psychosocial care.  Parents and teachers have better cooperation in care for children growing up in the challenges of this post-conflict environment, and there is more understanding for the behavioral and emotional reactions of children who have experienced trauma and poverty.  Teachers and parents have developed both the will, and the ability, to help the children or to refer them for further support.

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