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What is joyful is often found through pain.” This is a statement from a Kenyan woman, Doreen Ruto, who lost her husband in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi. It is through this traumatic event and a creative healing process that life took on a new and deeper meaning for her. During the extended healing process, Doreen experienced a greater love for her children and bonded deeply with other bomb blast victims. With- out this tragedy, she believes she would have never moved to the level of care for others or be of help to them in the ways she has. Doreen currently works throughout east Africa as a trauma educator and psychosocial and restorative justice advocate for people traumatized by acts of violence and war.
For a growing number of trauma victims, the healing process brings new understanding of themselves as well as their place and role in the world. Individuals become activists against oppression, or advocates for better building codes and tsunami early-warning systems—taking paths they may never have chosen had they not suffered the traumatic experience. However, not everyone moves through trauma to this deeper level of knowing, One important reason is that they are not provided the opportunity to do so. This is due to the lack of general infrastructure, political will, psychological aid available, or external care givers willing to engage in an individual’s or community’s suffering.
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