Jacaranda Communities of Hope
Child trauma training program for professionals and lay workers
The Jacaranda tree can be found blooming all around the world, its extravagant purple blossoms a symbol of hope. The flowers unfold in the driest time of the year, a blind act of faith, foreshadowing the coming of much-needed rain. Like the tree, the children helped by Jacaranda Communities of Hope® bloom despite their trauma, in anticipation of a brighter future.
Our program trains community leaders to facilitate recovery and healing in children who have experienced chronic, complex trauma. Jacaranda is dedicated to children around the world who:
live each day without the assurance of safety and the basic needs of food, shelter, clean water, and clothing;
are separated from their families, not knowing the whereabouts of loved ones or when they might be reunited;
face uncertainty, chaos and danger every day;
find ways to occupy themselves with grass dolls and toy guns, engaging in risky behaviors to act out their trauma;
know that death comes often to those around them;
have a story of trauma but have no one in their lives to help them share that story.
The principles of trauma recovery are rooted in love. Trauma recovery occurs through creating a safe environment so that children can share their story in their own way, and know they are loved and not forgotten. Inviting children into safe, child-centered interventions brings about healing and develops a sense of community, hope and growth.
To create this environment, we find local organizations in developing countries who will host the Jacaranda program. The Host organization recruits 20 trainees to a 5-day training session on childhood trauma recovery using play and story-telling therapy. The following week, those trainees deliver a “Healing Play Camp” for up to 40 children, where they are able to practice the skills they’ve learned the week before.
And it doesn’t end there; after the Healing Play Camp the Jacaranda graduates go back into their local communities to work with those children and many others, applying the principles they’ve learned in their own settings and multiplying the ministry of hope.
To host a Jacaranda program in your community, or introduce your organization to our training, go to our Get Involved Page.