"These Children are Nobody's Children" A new short film
documents a trip taken by eight Chicago School students and two
faculty members to Kigali, Rwanda as they train 21 childcare
professionals, teachers, and orphanage workers how to recognize,
assess, and effectively intervene with children who experience,
or are exposed to, traumatic life events. Called the Global HOPE
Training Initiative, HOPE stands for Healing Opportunities
through Purposeful Engagement --the program, first launched in
November 2009, draws upon the expertise of Chicago School
faculty, and now psychology students, to train mental health
care workers in strategies and skills that can be used in the
assessment, prevention, and treatment of trauma. "Reading about
it and hearing about it is just not enough. Students have an
open dialogue with Global HOPE participants and have the ability
to really understand the psychosocial issues that are facing
Rwanda," says Dr. Tiffany Masson, a Chicago School faculty
member who developed the Global HOPE