BASSETERRE St. Kitts, July 5th, 2012 -- Volunteer facilitators for the Return to Happiness (RTH) Programme, were trained during a workshop held on June 26th-27th at the UWI Centre.
The Return to Happiness Programme is a psychosocial recovery Program for children ages 5-12, who have experienced the trauma of natural/manmade disasters, conflict or violence.
Developed by UNICEF, the Programme uses guided play activities such as storytelling, drama, art and craft, and singing, to help children express feelings, understand difficult experiences, bond with other children, and return to a place of normalcy and happiness after a disaster or crisis incident.
The two-day workshop , which was facilitated by Ms. Debra Matthew and Mrs. Jeweleen Manners-Woodley of the Ministry of Community and Social Development, saw a total of twenty-five volunteers being trained on the use of the creative arts as a tool for helping children heal.
According to Mrs. Woodley, Co-Coordinator of the Programme, “The participants were quite diverse, but they were united by their community spirit and desire to help children”. She noted that the training received will now enable the participants to conduct the Return to Happiness Programme in their communities when necessary.
“All of the trainees will be noted as possible facilitators for the future, in the event that we have a natural disaster that affects children, such as a major hurricane or earthquake, or even a manmade incident such as an airplane crash or outbreak of violence. If any of these unfortunate incidents occur, we would make contact with our resource persons and arrange for them to conduct the Programme within their communities for affected children, as soon as it is possible to do so”.
The Return to Happiness Programme has already been effective in aiding children’s recovery in countries such as Mozambique, Paraguay and Venezuela. It was implemented in Grenada in 2004, after Hurricane Ivan, and is now being introduced to several other countries in the region, including St. Kitts-Nevis. A similar workshop is expected to be held in Nevis later this year.
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