MOZAMBIQUE: ‘People are lost because of terrorist trauma’

RELIGIOUS Sisters are helping thousands affected by terrorist attacks in Mozambique, giving them psychological aid to deal with their trauma.

Sister Aparecida Queiroz of the Daughters of Jesus has been in the blighted African country since 2017. 

Originally from Brazil, she has been to help thousands of people displaced by terrorism in the country’s northern Cabo Delgado province to overcome trauma sustained through violence.

With support from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Sister not only provides but also coordinates the psychosocial and spiritual support being given by the different congregations to the displaced in Pemba Diocese.

People come to her who have been attacked, lost loved ones or had to flee their homes, leaving everything behind. 

Sister Aparecida told ACN: “They are completely lost because of trauma. This work helps them start their life again.”

Northern Mozambique has been plagued by an Islamist insurrection which has claimed more than 6,000 lives since 2017 and has led to more than one million people fleeing their homes in search of safety. 

The Sister added: “We are speaking about people who lost everything, not just material goods, but their very identities. Many of these people lost family members, in the most brutal ways.”

The Sister said that material loss is often the least of their concerns as their deep psychological trauma can be crippling, leading people to lose any positive outlook on life.

She added: “Through our work we help people to rebuild their lives. Rebuild their identity, work through their pain and start being people again, to start working and dreaming again.

“We do group sessions where people recover their self-confidence, they speak and do manual work, because when people are displaced, they lose their references, and this work helps them to get back to celebrating their lives, to express themselves the way they used to in their villages. 

“They express a joy which they had not done since the attack. Our work, individual or in groups, helps people to recover.”

During the group sessions, Sister Aparecida said she sees trust begin to reappear in the eyes of patients: “The group serves as support, and as a way to rebuild trust, because the attacks feed distrust, and here they learn to trust in their communities again, and they celebrate this together.”

Besides support for the trauma healing in Mozambique, ACN helps the Church provide emergency aid and pastoral support for the internally displaced, as well as vehicles to aid pastoral workers in their mission.

With thanks to Filipe d’Avillez