Victims, Counselors Reclaim Lives from Torture

By Jane Morse

Survivors of torture and persecution who fled to the United States for asylum have had much taken away from them: their sense of dignity and personal safety, their family and friends, the security of having homes and careers.

But meeting them and the counselors who try to help them heal wounds and adjust to their new country reveals that they bring skills, generosity and an enthusiasm to give back to their new communities.

Recently, in a community room at a local church, some dozen survivors of torture and trauma gathered to share their stories. They are the clients of Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (ASTT), one of about 23 nonprofit organizations in the United States dedicated to providing mental health and social services to victims of what the United Nations has labeled "the most profound of human rights abuses."

The attendees came from many parts of the world. In their home countries, these survivors of persecution were students, teachers, lawyers or just plain working folk. A few were human rights and political activists, but most ran afoul of their governments for simply speaking their minds.

A harvesting and irrigation technologist enraged his government by telling his students certain standard irrigation practices were not effective for every part of the country. A teacher joined a teacher's professional organization and was accused of espousing a "hidden agenda" in opposition to the ruling regime.

"Everyone has a responsibility to their community," said one survivor. "But everyone has his own way of thinking. A person should be free to be an individual."

RETAINING A SPIRIT OF GIVING

There are more than 400,000 torture survivors who have found refuge in the United States. About 40,000 live in the Baltimore-Washington area, where ASTT, funded primarily by U.S. federal and state sources as well as donations from the general public, counsels more than 200 each year.

Karen Hanscom, executive director of ASTT and a licensed psychologist who helped found the nonprofit in 1994, told America.gov: "The number of [torture survivors] who go into the helping professions - that shocks me. I would think that after you've had so much taken away - your whole sense of who you are and your sense of worth, because that's what torture does - how you then have an ounce of strength to give to other people is a phenomenon to me.

"But they do, though. They want to be teachers, or they want to be human rights workers here [in the United States]. They get onto nonprofit boards. A lot become nurses. So it's amazing to me that they then want to start giving again."

In fact, one of the oft-repeated desires the survivors voiced at their recent meeting was their eagerness to find jobs or go back to school once their asylum petitions were approved by the U.S. government.

When torture survivors do find paying jobs, they often contribute what they can financially to those who helped them.

"The other thing that is shocking to me," Hanscom said, "is people who have gotten asylum and they're working three jobs and they're trying to make a go here and all of a sudden we'll get a money order [from them] for $50. That's really meaningful."

IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA

"I am amazed by Americans," one survivor told America.gov. "I feel comfortable I can talk to Americans. I appreciate people listening. Even strangers will listen and try to help and give encouragement."

Many survivors told America.gov that the election campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain were a special source of amazement to them - and not just because a person of African descent could win the presidency of the United States.

In his country, one survivor said, the loser of the election would be thrown in prison for having criticized the winner during the campaign.

The survivors find plenty to be amazed at in the United States, but their counselors also find much to admire in their clients.

Joachim Nthawie, a native of Zambia who previously worked in that country with refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been with ASTT since 2003 and has a doctorate in pastoral counseling from Loyola College in Maryland.

Hearing the stories of torture survivors can be painful and depressing, he acknowledged, but he added: "I feel admiration for their resilience - that in spite of these terrible things, there is still hope that things can be better."

This sense of hope, he said, "is a force of life that you can't just extinguish." The strength of the survivors inspires him. "I want to be a part of their life journey."

See also "Torture Victims Demonstrate the Resiliency of the Human Spirit ( http://www.america.gov/st/hr-english/2008/June/20080627152641ajesrom0.3457758.html )."

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)

Source: U.S. Department of State

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