People Tree is supporting the ‘I am Somebody’s Child Soldier’ campaign by gifting pieces from our current collection for an auction at a fashion show in Uganda this August.
People Tree would like to share with you a very important campaign. We fully support this cause and would like you to join with us in doing all you can to help.
The situation right now in northern Uganda is that child soldiers are not given the necessary mental health support once they have been rescued from their captors. Emilio Ovuga’s study, on mental health and child soldiers in Uganda reports that out of 58 girls and 44 boys, 87.3% of the children reported having experienced ten or more war-related traumatic psychological events. And, in a recent study by Jan Stochi, at least 6 years after the war, 95% of former child soldiers linked their depression and anxiety to war related experiences.
If this situation remains, child soldiers will continue to turn to violence, drugs and homelessness as some of the social consequences of undiagnosed and untreated mental health.
People Tree admirer, Shirah Mansaray is a lawyer and a humanitarian. She is organising a fashion show, in Kampala on 16th August 2014, to raise funds that will provide rescued child soldiers in northern Uganda with mental health treatment and rehabilitation.
The fashion show is committed to raising awareness of mental health issues suffered by rescued child soldiers and raising £16,000. In the initial stages of the charity, they will be working with 162 child soldiers that were rescued from the civil war in northern Uganda. The charity will fund specialist psychotherapists to provide ongoing support and rehabilitation for rescued child soldiers suffering from post war trauma.
The name of the campaign is ‘I am Somebody’s Child Soldier’. See video here: http://vimeo.com/99996587
After the charity has established a firm presence, the aim is to then set up a rehabilitation centre for those child soldiers that have been excluded from their communities, where ongoing support from qualified psychotherapists will continue to be provided.
Please sign their petition calling on World Leaders and International Organisations to act on mental ill health amongst child soldiers- http://chn.ge/1jfKGH3
You can also show your support by sharing this information on: Facebook,
Instagram – @i_am_somebodys_child_soldier
Twitter – @Rescue_My_Mind
Also, they have a donation page – www.igg.me/at/iamsomebodyschildsoldier
And an Email address – info@iamsomebodyschildsoldier.org
Designers and Stores can donate their old collections by sending them here – 47 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3QB, United Kingdom.
Registered charity number 1157761.