Evaluation of the mobile war trauma team : program of meeting the psychosocial needs of children in Angola -- a project of the Christian Children"s Fund

CCF has been implementing the project with funding from Swedish Development Cooperation since 1994; the present evaluation was conducted in 10/95, a month after the inception of USAID support. The MWTT consists of four Angolans, two of whom formerly worked at the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration (MINARS). In its first year, the MWTT trained 574 adults with responsibility for caring for children, 51% men and 49% women, including community leaders in camps for the dislocated; teachers and social workers; staff of children"s homes, child-related NGOs, and street children programs; and trainees working for the government. The program reached 14,950 children, including 4,372 dislocated children, 2,110 separated children or street children, 7,517 school children, and 951 children of preschool age. The training curriculum is an imaginative synthesis of traditional knowledge and state-of-the-art scientific knowledge about child development, trauma, and healing and training methods and is worthy of application in other African contexts. The MWTT also conducted 82 follow-up and TA visits and 21 evaluation meetings with trainees. In a random sample survey, 98% of trainees reported that their project-acquired skills, awareness, and sensitivities had allowed them to identify children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 91% said they were able to improve behavior among children with PTSD; and 96% reported being able to have a better relationship with the children. Additionally, 80% said they were better able to satisfy the psychological and emotional needs of traumatized children and 78% said they believed they could put their ideas into practice. On the basis of their training, trainees organized dances, drawing sessions, storytelling, drama and role playing, sports, and games, and established schools or pre-schools. The sample of trainees reported the following improvements in the children: improved child-child and child-adult relationships; decreased sleeping problems; diminished isolation behavior; progress in psychomotor development among younger children; greater participation among children in institutions; diminished violence between children; manifestations of greater certainty and trust in the future; and decreased bed-wetting. The all-pervasive constraints to implementation are the conditions of extreme poverty and the beneficiaries" lack of resources in both their personal and professional lives. In addition, a serious problem arose regarding the selection of training sites and trainees, with MINARS initially emphasizing children"s homes and sites for street children and MWTT eventually adopting a community-based approach where traditional, sustainable methods could be applied. The MWTT has developed a solid community-based, participatory approach based on the cultural and socioeconomic realities of Angola. CCF is a leader in developing such an approach in a country where such initiatives are relatively new. To the extent that it can continue in this direction, awareness of the needs of children, as well as healthy activities for them, will become rooted in local communities. To implement its program and institutionalize its approach (and have an impact on policy) at the national level, the MWTT has made linkages with a number of relevant organizations, public and private, national and international. Lessons learned are as follows. (1) A program such as this cannot have an impact apart from efforts to meet children"s basic biological and safety needs and to raise social awareness of their needs and rights. (2) In addressing children"s war traumas, it is essential to respect traditional culture and to integrate local knowledge with Western approaches. (3) Key to the success of the MWTT was that it consisted of Angolans who knew the language and culture and who respected and were willing to learn traditional ways from the people whom they trained. (4) The MWTT should control the selection of training sites as much as possible. More attention should be given to both site selection and to choosing people who will utilize the training provided.