Koinonia Trust Trauma Healing Centre, Liberia

The Koinonia Trust aims to support the healing and rehabilitation of adults and children who have experienced trauma, seeking to empower and strengthen individuals and communities, and endeavouring to nurture hope. Projects include trauma healing, education, organisational training and social enterprise. Mandala Trust provided financial support to some of their projects for children.

During the Liberian civil wars, many children were separated from their parents, while some were kidnapped, abused and forced to become soldiers. Tragically, the damaging consequences of these traumas have affected not just the children who survived the wars but also the next generation, those who are now becoming parents. The Ebola outbreaks also orphaned children and tore families apart.

Koinonia’s Trauma Healing project in Liberia’s capital Monrovia aims to help adults and children to process their experiences and move forward with their lives. In 2018, it facilitated training groups for adults, following courses designed by the Trauma Healing Institute in the USA. However, there is a need to train facilitators to work with children, and this separate certified training has now been funded by Mandala Trust.

Low literacy levels, resulting from the decades of disruption to Liberia’s education system, are also limiting young people’s potential. The Koinonia Trust facilitates homework, study and reading groups for children, contributing to their education and helping them to stay in school, and Mandala Trust has donated funds to furnish a study room and library.

Building the capacity and resilience of young people is at the heart of what the Koinoinia Trust does, and this includes providing enjoyable group activities. Thanks to further funding from Mandala Trust, in 2020 it was able to equip a youth football team with kit and training materials, and to provide musical instruments and keyboard lessons for the newly formed Koinonia Trust community choir.