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Grassroots Reconciliation Group

By November 29, 2022June 25th, 2023Mailchimp, News, Print
Triple your Impact Today: Donate now
We have a special donor who has agreed to TRIPLE MATCH any donation we receive. That is a very special opportunity to maximize your impact.

Our focus now is on trauma counseling for former child soldiers, and training 1 counselor costs $100We’re training former child soldiers like Betty, the inspiring woman I wrote to you about last week, receive trauma counseling and actually become counselors themselves to former child soldiers and refugees.

After being forced to commit atrocities, former child soldiers often become suicidal. Counseling gives them hope and a sense of community. I’m including Betty’s story below in case you missed it.

Our aim is to train 30 more counselors like Betty, for a total goal of $3,000.  Please help us meet this goal, it’s so important in these war-torn communities.

A $100 donation will help train one counselor, and today that will be tripled by our matching donor. So for $100 you will help us train 3 counselors. More than that will help exponentially more.  Our TOTAL ANNUAL BUDGET is only $40,000, and we have 400 participants now.  That is very impactful as far as nonprofits go.

Thank you so much!!!  All my best,

Sasha

Betty’s story

Abducted by the LRA rebels at age 13, Betty was raped before getting her first period. She was forced to be a child soldier and sex slave to a commander for the next 9 years. She finally escaped but had to hide among dead bodies to conceal herself, further traumatizing her. “It haunts me to this day, and I’m still not able to conceive,” she told me.

Betty was on the verge of suicide when she joined a GRG trauma counseling project. “But now I’ve become a trauma counselor with GRG. It has made me feel special.” Donate now to help former child soldiers like Betty. She moved me to tears and has inspired me since.

Betty is part of a GRG trauma counseling and livelihoods project of 40 former child soldiers and community members in a remote part of N Uganda close to the South Sudan border, Madi Opei.

“Becoming a counselor has given me perspective, and now I can relate to other people with the same trauma and help them. I’m also farming with the GRG group. We also sing and dance together. I’m getting used to seeing things from a different perspective,” she told me.

We need your help to continue these projects, to provide trauma counseling and seeds & training to former child soldiers & refugees. Some of our grants have run out, and we may have to curtail projects this year. Please consider donating to help us reach our goal of raising $10,000, so we can keep these critical projects alive.