Refuge for abused women in Tigray, Ethiopia

She sat in a corner, head down, her face covered by her scarf. She had just arrived in our safehouse and many emotions went through her mind. She was frightened of the past ad frightened for the future. She was stuck in life. How would she ever overcome her problems. How would she forget all the unspeakable things which had happened to her. How could she forget if every night she relived the events in her nightmares and during the day she saw the wounds that were not healing very well. She felt exhausted from teh many sleepless nights, some days she just didn't want to go on living anymore. There were some days that she lost all her self control and went into a psychosis....again reliving what had happened to her. Oh, the hospital staff has been nice to her, they listened, the psychiatrist prescribed some tablets to help her sleep and feel less depressed, but her problems continued and she didn't feel better. she agreed to a three month admission in our safehouse, it was her last hope.

When she first arrived she had many fears. What would the other ladies say, would they think she was crazy, what if she had a nightmare or one of her psychotic episodes. But she knew she had to overcome these fears and try to get better.

She slowly adjusted to life in the safehouse. She started to look around, she started to make friends, she realized she was not the only one with problems. She started to attend counseling and slowly her nightmares became less and eventually disappeared. The psychiatrist started to lower her medication as he saw the positive change in her. She made friends and they started to laugh together. Slowly healing had taken place and after three months she stood at the gate to say good bye to everyone. She stood with her head held high, regained dignity. No longer a victim of what had happned to her but a survivor. A survivor who had not forgotten what had happened to her but she had learned to put it in the right place, not to let the trauma rule her life, she was in control of her life and she was ready to meet the world again. She was ready to start a little shop and use the skills she had learned during her stay. Another changed woman was leaving the safehouse!

Thank you for giving us the privilige, through your donation, to assist the hurting and see them leave as changed women!