Responding to children who have experienced abuse and exploitation A narrative resource for Sri Lankan practitioners
Written by David Denborough and Radhika Chellaiah for Dulwich Centre Foundation International and LEADS
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Introduction
Contents
How can we enable children who have experienced abuse and exploitation to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger? And how can we do so in ways that are culturally appropriate? This resource shares two hopeful narrative methodologies, the Kite of Life and the Tree of Life, and describes how they are being used in Sri Lanka.
Assisting children who have experienced abuse
It also conveys the history of this unique project. The Kite of Life was originally developed with Sri Lankans living in Canada. Now it is being used back in Sri Lanka with vulnerable children and children who have survived abuse. Included in this publication are letters shared between Sri Lanka and Canada about the significance of this collaboration. It is hoped that this resource will be helpful to workers throughout Sri Lanka who are responding to vulnerable children.
About this project This project has involved a partnership between LEADS, a well-respected charitable organisation working among vulnerable children in Sri Lanka, and Dulwich Centre Foundation International, based in Australia. It has involved building the capacity of LEADS workers to respond to children who have experienced sexual abuse and exploitation. LEADS is a community development organisation passionate and purposeful about reaching the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka. Founded over 25 years ago, LEADS is a registered national agency with the Social Service Ministry and the NonGovernmental Agency Secretariat. The Sri Lankan government recognised the excellence of the work of LEADS with two awards of appreciation for Tsunami Relief and shelter work and for noteworthy work in development and relief. LEADS has a significant focus on protecting Sri Lankan children from sexual predators and does this through ESCAPE (Eradication of Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution and Exploitation). ESCAPE was founded in September 1995 with the goal of Eradicating Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution and Exploitation. It remains one of the few organisations in Sri Lanka wholly dedicated to working with and for children who have been traumatised through experiences of sexual abuse and exploitation. Dulwich Centre Foundation International (DCFI) supports workers and communities in different parts of the world who are responding to significant hardship. Over the past eight years, Dulwich Centre has been involved in work in Rwanda (in partnership with Ibuka: National genocide survivors association); Bangladesh (in collaboration with Acid Survivors Foundation and Ain o Salish Kendra); East Timor (in collaboration with PRADET); Iraq (in collaboration with the Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims), Uganda and Zimbabwe (in partnership with REPSSI), Bosnia (in collaboration with Crea Thera), Haiti (in collaboration with H.O.P.E.), and in Palestine (in partnership with the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture).
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The Kite of Life 5 Sri Lankan Kites of Life 7 Kites of Life flying at Galle Face
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Strong winds – talking about problems and survival skills
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Sharing messages across the oceans 12 The Tree of Life 15 Forest of Life
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Talking about problems – the Storms of Life or Compost Heap
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Using the Tree of Life in Sri Lanka:
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Reconciliation
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Individual counselling
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Certificates and celebration
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Further resources
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Acknowledgements
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Assisting children who have experienced abuse Children who have been through hard times are often very careful about who they speak to and what they say. They often know that to speak openly about difficult things, including abuse or trauma, doesn’t always make them feel better. In fact, in some circumstances, talking openly can lead children to feel worse, it can bring awful memories and dreams, and it can also lead to actions being taken that are out of the children’s control. Because of this, some children develop very good skills in keeping quiet about difficult experiences. And while in some ways these skills in silence can protect them from being re-traumatised, it can also lead children to feel profoundly isolated. So how do we help children to speak about their lives, but in ways that won’t make them feel worse, that won’t retraumatise them, and instead can make them feel stronger? The methodologies in this resource are designed to help workers to do this. They are based on what is called ‘narrative therapy’ which is a particular way of assisting people to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger. When working with children from a narrative perspective, there are a number of key principles to keep in mind: i)
Often, it’s a lot easier for children to think differently about their lives if the focus is not on speaking, but on making something with others. When engaged creatively with pens and paints and crafts, words can sometimes be found where initially there was only silence.
ii)
Our starting point can be an aspect of children’s lives in which they experience pleasure or relief, something separate from abuse or hardship. We can be on the lookout for some aspect of children’s culture which they enjoy (for instance, in Sri Lanka, many children enjoy flying kites). Kite flying is an aspect of life that children find easy to talk about, they have a rich vocabulary about this topic. This is a safe territory for conversations.
iii)
We can use the metaphor of kites to enable the child to talk about their hopes and wishes; what they like and care about; and their skills and abilities. We can also use the metaphor to enable children to think about who they learnt these skills and values from; and people, places, memories and songs that are important to them. In this way, children start to explore and tell a preferred storyline about themselves, about their identity, and about who is important to them in their lives. This contributes to creating a safe territory of identity for the child.
iv)
When children are subject to abuse sometimes they come to believe that they are the problem. The child becomes the problem. But the child is not the problem, the problem is the problem. We can use metaphor to talk about and ‘externalise’ problems. For instance, we can talk about the strong winds that kites and children have to face in life. These strong winds might include ‘the loneliness’, ‘the bad feelings’, ‘the nightmares’, ‘the nightwetter (that is wetting the bed)’, and so on. We can ensure that children have a chance to name problems that they are facing as separate from themselves. The child is not the problem, the problem is the problem.
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Rather than asking children to speak directly, and in the first person, about abuses or hardships they have experienced, it is often possible to instead invite children to speak collectively and in the third person about the strong winds, abuses and hardships, that children experience. This involves collective disclosure and can be much less hazardous for children than individual disclosure.
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Children who have been through abuse or other forms of hardship always do something to try to protect themselves or others, to try to lessen the effects of hardship, to hide away what is important to them, to shelter what matters to them in life. Children are never passive recipients of trauma. We can be on the lookout for children’s responses, and find ways to acknowledge their skills of survival.
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Abuse devalues children. It can make children feel as if they are worthless. To counter this, we can create contexts in which children who have been through hardship can share their survival skills with others. In this way, they experience making contributions to other children who have also suffered. This can re-value children’s lives and bring a renewed sense of pride and dignity. It can also dissolve a sense of isolation and lead to a sense of connectedness with others.
The Kite of Life The Kite of Life is a narrative methodology that was developed in partnership with the Sri Lankan Tamil community of St James Town, Toronto, which settled in Canada as a result of the conflict in Sri Lanka*. The idea of a methodology based on a kite was suggested by Thilaka Xavier because she declared that people in Sri Lanka love kites. Other community members agreed and added: Kites are like life – with their ups and their downs. As one string holds a kite, the culture holds all the people. All the different coloured kites are like all the different peoples in the world. No matter what the kites look like, no matter their diverse colours, all kites need the same things in order to fly – the string, the wind, and someone holding them with balance. When Dulwich Centre Foundation International visited Colombo, Sri Lanka, and mentioned the Kite of Life methodology, the workers at LEADS agreed. We are so happy to hear of other Sri Lankans coming up with such a wonderful idea as the Kite of Life.We want to thank you! We are going to use this with the children we meet.We are proud that Sri Lankans have invented this.
For more information about these principles and narrative approaches to responding to trauma, see the resource list at the end of this document.
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The methodology We can think of our life as a kite. In the Kite of Life, children are asked to draw a kite and then to write in the different corners:
Sri Lankan Kites of Life Here are some examples of Kites of Life, made by the workers of LEADS:
Part One: Creating your Kite of Life Left hand corner:Values What do you most care about? Who do you care about? What do you and your friends care about? Right hand corner: Skills, abilities, knowledge What are some of the things you most enjoy doing? What are some of your skills and abilities in life? What would those who care about you say are your abilities or skills? What is something you (and your friends/family) have learned? What helps you to get through hard times? Top corner: Hopes and dreams What are your dreams and hopes for yourself/your friends/your family/your community? These can be big or small: a hope for your life or for this weekend Central hub where the axes intersect What do you think is most important in life? The tail of the Kite The social histories of people’s values, dreams and skills/abilities The tail of the kite is used to represent the social histories of these values, dreams, and skills. The left-hand side of the tail is used to describe people and places from the children’s histories that are linked to their values, dreams, and skills, while on the right-hand side of the tail, we want to document stories, memories, songs, and cultural practices that relate to the social history of the particular values, dreams, and skills that have been written on the child’s kite. Here are some questions that we can ask children about the tail of the kite: Who are the special people you have learnt things from? Who are your heroes? What are your favourite places? What are your favourite songs? What are your favourite celebrations, holidays? When you look at what you have written on the other parts of your kite, are there any stories or memories of special times that you can tell me? For example, ‘When you say that you like flying kites, where did you learn this, who from? Can you tell me about your favourite time playing kites?’ Or, ‘When you say that friendship is the most important thing in life, who was your first friend? Where did you learn how to be friends? Who would be least surprised that you placed this on your kite?
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Kites of Life flying at Galle Face by Radhika Chellaiah As a result of the workshop at LEADS, facilitated by Dulwich Centre Foundation International, the Kite of Life and Tree of Life methodologies are now being engaged with in different parts of Sri Lanka. Tuesday Kids Club is a street program run by the Kollupitiya Methodist Church for over 20 years. It began in response to impoverished street kids in the neighbourhood of Colpetty, where many children were forced to adopt street life as a way to survive.These children share common struggles and a daily battle to stay alive amidst crime and brutalities of every kind. Every Tuesday, the children are invited to play game and do crafts and in addition are provided a glass of milk and a meal. As time has gone by, the club has grown in leaps and bounds.These days, every Tuesday, Scott Hall fills with joyful laughter. In addition to a fun-filled program and a healthy meal; we also provide children with school supplies and tutoring. Children are encouraged to attend school regularly and receive tutoring in mathematics, reading and writing. Our goal is to break the cycle of poverty by supporting children through education.We also want to help them to discover their passions which may some day pave the way for their future. Having learnt about the Kite of Life, developed by Sri Lankans in Canada, we thought we would try this in the Kids Club. Over a period of five Tuesdays, volunteers created Kites of Life with the children at Tuesday Kids Club. It was facilitated with the seniors only, those 14 and older.This is how we did it. On the first Tuesday we drew and coloured beautiful kites! We spent the second week filling out the different parts of the Kite of Life based on their personal lives. I recall that some of the children wrote down dreams of becoming teachers, child care workers, social workers, accountants, and one young woman said she wanted to become a police woman. I think this program made the children think differently about their personal lives and about their future.They had a chance to speak about their hopes, their dreams of what they want to be, those who have helped them in the past, and those who are there for them right now. The third week involved a time of sharing.The Kites of Life were hung up around the hall and each child spoke about what they had written.We had all of the kids listening that day.There were about 45 children in total, from ages 5 -17.There were also some volunteers present and a few of the parents. It was like a ritual or ceremony.The children spoke of good events that they had recalled while making their kites.The not-so-good events in their lives were not shared in public on this day. We spent the fourth week making kites.There were so many colourful papers and different shapes.This was a lot of fun I must say! The fifth week involved a trip to Galle Face to fly the kites. Our trip to Galle Face was a lot of fun.We spent a few hours flying kites and it was a very colourful sight indeed.The children enjoyed seeing their kites going higher and higher! We had food, drinks and an ice-cream to end the happy evening.
The Kite of Life is very useful as we have found it is a fun and expressive way to relate to our lives. Flying kites is a fun recreational activity here in Sri Lanka and it is a great way to help children talk about their lives. This program reminded me that the children attending Tuesday Kids Club have hopes and dreams just like any other child. Regardless of their background, we need to do whatever it takes to help them in their life to the best of our ability.
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Strong winds – talking about problems and survival skills After children have made their Kites of Life, we often bring everyone together in a group to discuss the strong winds that affect children’s lives. Using the metaphor of winds helps children to ‘externalise’ problems, to not see themselves as the problem.
By asking children about their skills in flying kites, it’s then possible to ask them, ‘When children face strong winds in their lives, what are some of the ways that they survive? What are some of children’s survival skills?’ Here is a drawing that the young people in Toronto made about survival skills in flying through strong winds. Their skills included: ‘keeping safe’, ‘listening’, ‘standing firm’, ‘patience’, ‘being positive’, ‘praying’, ‘seeking help’ and ‘talking with others’.
Here is a drawing of the strong winds created by young people in Canada: These include the winds of poverty, winds of injustice, winds of separation, winds of hopelessness, winds of loss. We also invite children to talk about what effects these winds have on children’s lives. These are collective conversations. We don’t expect or even want children to speak in the group about their personal problems. We keep the conversations collective. Sometimes, after talking in the group about strong winds, a child may want to speak personally with a facilitator and we take care to make this possible, as Radhika Chellaiah explains: In the Tuesday Kids Club, when the children talked about strong winds in the Kite of Life exercise, we had a child who had a dark moment in his life which he didn’t want to share on the sharing day. But after the group session this was an opportunity to talk to him one-on-one.We were able to help him with a problem he is having at home in his relationship with his mother. When children fly kites through strong winds they use lots of different skills. We can ask them about this. ‘When you are flying kites, are there special things that you do when the winds are strong?’
In these ways, we use the Kite of Life to: • Enable children to tell proud stories about their lives through making a Kite of Life and sharing this with others • Acknowledge some of the strong winds (problems) that children face • Draw out and honour the special skills that children use during times of strong winds. Importantly, throughout the whole process we also have fun!!
Here are some children’s responses: To get a kite up in strong winds you need help.You need someone to take the kite and run with it while you hold the string.Then, when the wind is starting to lift, the helper lets go and lets it soar upwards.The helper stays around though, because if the kite gets tangled in a tree, they will climb it and set it free! It’s always good to have a helper if the winds are strong. When there are strong winds, one of the important things is not to be rigid with the kite.You have to let it go a little bit. It’s all about give and take. Your posture, the way you stand, also makes a difference.You need to stand with your feet apart firmly on the earth. Good balance is important. When the wind drops, that’s when you run backwards, to try to bring the kite back up again. . And if you have difficulties, then you try again and again!
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Sharing messages across the oceans
To our loving brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka
Because the workers at LEADS so appreciated that the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Canada had created the Kite of Life and then shared this with them back in Sri Lanka, they wanted to send the following message to convey their thanks.
The Kite of Life Community in St James Town, Toronto, were so touched to receive this message from Sri Lanka that they met together over a number of weeks to write a return message and to create a mural to send to the LEADS workers:
Dear Thilaka Xavier and all those who developed the Kite of Life,
To our loving brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka,
We are writing to you from Colombo, Sri Lanka.We are a group of workers who are responding to children in Sri Lanka who have experienced abuse.
Thank you for allowing us to unite hands with you by sharing your experiences with us.
Today we learnt about the Kite of Life and we made our own kites.We took turns in speaking about what messages we wanted to send back to you. Here they are: We are so happy to hear of other Sri Lankans coming up with such a wonderful idea as the Kite of Life.We want to thank you! We are going to use this with the children we meet. We are proud that Sri Lankans have invented this.We work with children who have been abused. They have had very difficult times and unless someone can assist them, they usually don’t speak of many positive thoughts.The kite is something all children love to see, so the Kite of Life will help the children we work with. We love how different parts of the Kite represent different parts of our lives.We are even thinking of more links. For instance, maybe the frills on the kite can represent the special people in our lives. Or maybe we can use the frame of the kite to represent where we come from …? What is very significant to us, is that you have had to flee from Sri Lanka to find safety and new lives in Canada. And yet, your community has created something that can be used back here in Sri Lanka, a way of working that brings people together. Even though you are so far away from home, you have created something that has helped connect people.We have both Tamil and Sinhalese Kites of Life in this room today. It seems a very significant gift that you have given to us; a significant offering back to this land. Despite the difficulties you have been through, you have created something all the world can use. While we were doing our Kites of Life, there was a time that I felt very sad.The people who developed the first Kites of Life had to fly away from this land.They had to take off. I feel very sad about this.They are people from my country. I can see what the Kite of Life might work better for some people than the Tree of Life. In the Tree of Life, our roots are fixed in the ground. But some of the children we work with have no roots.They are always changing from home to home.They are flying like a kite, flying like refugees. For a child in this context I think the Kite of Life might be more appropriate. We want to send a big thank you to you. A big thank you for what you have invented. And for allowing it to be shared with us back in Sri Lanka. We understand this is the first time the Kite of Life has been shared back here. It is rare to find people willing to share so whole heartedly. I liked hearing the story about how one of the Tamil grandfathers in Toronto insisted that the centre of the Kite should stand for something ... our reason for living. I liked hearing how he insisted. That he put his opinion out there. This is part of the Kite story now. Thank you for sending us the Kite of Life. As we use this with children here can we stay in touch with you? Would you like to see pictures of Kites of Life here in Sri Lanka? We will include some of ours below. From your loving brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka
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We were happy to learn that our own people are engaging in the important work of helping children who have experienced sexual abuse.We are proud of the workers who are undertaking these issues.When children are sexually abused, they might not be able to speak about it to anyone.They sometimes don’t tell friends and family. It’s very difficult to talk about these things. We think children might find it easier to talk to community workers.We are happy the community workers are there for the children.We are also proud of the children for coming forward and asking for help. We’re pleased that the Kite of Life makes it easier for these young people to speak about these things.The kite is being used for a very good cause in Sri Lanka.We used the Kite of Life to share our stories of happiness whereas you are giving the children who have experienced sexual abuse a way to voice the challenges they face. It was really touching to hear you are using the Kite for these purposes.You are making improvements and adding to what the Kite can do to help others. We are really happy to learn that Tamil and Singhalese people are ‘joining together as one’ to help children.You are putting aside your differences to help Sri Lankan children who have experienced sexual abuse.You are coming together for this very good purpose.We think this is a great thing – it touched our hearts very much.You inspire us to do something like what you are doing. Unity is strength. In your letter, you refer to us as ‘people from our country’. This is meaningful for us. It’s good to know that you think of us as your people.We were happy that you see our connection, because we also believe that you are part of us and we are part of you.We’re Sri Lankan, whether we live in Canada or the home country.Where we come from is still part of our lives. We won’t forget the Motherland or our friends and family ‘back home’. It makes us happy that our ‘small initiative’ (the Kite of Life in Toronto) could travel the world and be used to address big problems.We never thought it would go this far.We’ve learned that a small thing can lead to something big: ‘small drops can make an ocean’. Our kites are flying around the world. We’re proud that we developed something that helped others, but we are most proud that the kite has travelled to Sri Lanka.With the Kite of Life, we are helping our own people in Canada and Sri Lanka. It’s not help from the outside, it’s ‘help from within’. Sri Lankans helping Sri Lankans. Thilaka asked us what image comes to mind when we think about you.We see kites flying to Sri Lanka from all over the world.
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The Tree of Life
And on these kites, some of the messages will be: • Joining together as one • There’s strength in unity • Not ‘my’ country, but ‘our country’ • Peace and unity • We’re the same, no matter where we are from • One small thing can have a big impact • Look to the future
The Tree of Life is a second methodology that was originally developed by Ncazelo Ncube and David Denborough to respond to vulnerable children in southern Africa. These children had lost many loved ones due to AIDS. Now the Tree of Life is being used in Sri Lanka (and many other places, see www.dulwichcentre.com.au/tree-of-life.html). The Tree of Life begins with a child drawing a tree and then using different parts of the tree to represent different aspects of their life:
• We are proud of you For those of us who are younger, we are reminded of K’naan’s song, Wavin’ the Flag. K’naan is a Canadian rapper/singer. When we were part of the Kite of Life in Scarborough (outside Toronto), we sang Wavin’ Flag* when we were sharing our stories.These lines stand out for us when we think about your letter: When I get older I will be stronger out of the darkness I came the farthest among the hardest survival K’naan’s song reminds us of how you have faced your fears and struggles and became survivors. If there is a chance to help you in your work with children, we would like to join you.
The Roots (heritage): The roots of the tree are a prompt for children to speak about their heritage: where they come from (i.e. village, town, country); their family or community history (origins, family name, ancestry, extended family, totem); those who have taught them the most in life; their favourite place at home; a treasured song or dance.
The Ground (present): The ground represents where the child lives at present; and some of the activities that they choose to do and that they enjoy day to day.
We look forward to hearing from you, From your Kite of Life Community in Toronto
The Trunk (what is valued/skills): The trunk represents what the child gives value to, cares about, and their skills and abilities. This may include skills in physical acts, skills of caring, kindness, honesty, etc. Then we can trace the history of these: Who did you learn these from? How long has this been important to you? Where did this come from?
The Branches (horizons): The branches of the tree represent shared hopes, dreams and wishes: for others, for themselves, for wider community. It’s then possible to trace the history of these hopes/wishes: How long have you had these hopes? Where did they come from? How have you held onto them? Did anyone introduce you to these hopes or help you to hold onto them?
Leaves of the Tree (special people): The leaves of the tree represent people who are important to the participant. These can be people who are alive or may be people that have passed on.
Fruits (legacies bequeathed to us): The fruits represent gifts that have been passed on to the child, or the contributions others have made to their life.
Flowers / Seeds (legacies we wish to leave): The flowers / seeds of the tree represent gifts that the child wishes to pass onto others. They can also represent the contributions the child is already making to others.
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A Forest of Life In the second part of the process, where possible, we gather a number of people’s trees together to create a ‘Forest of Life’. This forest may be made up of family members, or friends, or we do this process in a group setting. The facilitator may also make their own tree. Once the forest has been created, the facilitator finds a way to acknowledge something significant about each ‘tree’ … so that each child experiences that that they have made a contribution to ‘the forest’. Here’s an example of a Sri Lankan Tree of Life:
Talking about problems – the Storms of Life or Compost Heap Just as we use the metaphor of strong winds to talk about problems in the Kite of Life, in the third part of the Tree of Life process we use the metaphor of storms and discuss the ‘storms of life’, the hardships that people face and the ways that children survive such hardships. We move between natural metaphors and people’s lives. When working with children, we might first talk about the difficulties that trees, forests and animals face. Then we talk about the difficulties that children face and how this affects them. Finally, we explore animals’ survival skills and then children’s survival skills. We explore survival skills by asking questions such as: During difficult times, during the storms of life, what enables you to keep going/helps lift you up? What is it that keeps you strong during difficult times? When things get tough, when you feel down, what are the things you do that help support you to stay strong; to get back on track? This might be connecting to or thinking about certain people, places, family, culture, memories of places or loved ones who have passed away? Or it might be something you do, that makes you feel strong: praying, music, talking, playing, exercise, something else? What is it that helps you get back up when the going gets tough? What helps you to get through the storms of life? Sometimes it is easier for children to speak collectively about the storms of life rather than individually. If possible, we document children’s survival skills. Alternatively, sometimes people like to draw a compost heap or compost bin next to their tree and this is where they place the problems that they are dealing with at this time. This is another way of externalizing the problem, showing that the child is not the problem, but the problem is the problem. The good thing about compost heaps is that they ‘transform stinking, rotten stuff into rich and nourishing fertilizer for our lives’*. (* This phrase is from Margaret Haywood, who drew her Tree of Life exercise as part of a group of women all of whom had experienced domestic violence. While drawing her tree she included a compost heap and others have also found this concept very helpful.)
A Sri Lankan Forest of Life:
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Using the Tree of Life in Sri Lanka Reconciliation by Radhika Chellaiah We recently introduced the Tree of Life at the Unity Missions Trust Camp.The vision of this camp is to foster and facilitate national unity, reconciliation, integration and healing amongst and between children of the North,Wanni, South, Central, East and other areas of Sri Lanka. While the students were at their respective programs, fifty teachers attended a Tree of Life workshop. Each teacher was given a poster sheet with colour pens and pencils and we started off by drawing trees. It was interesting to see the different shapes of trees and the fun the teachers had while drawing them. An introduction was given about the Tree of Life and we went on to label and talk about the different parts of the tree.We had them all hung up and walked through the forest admiring each other’s trees.We then spent some time asking for volunteers to talk about their trees. As grown-ups and teachers, it was interesting to listen to them talk of their passion to reach out to children. Since most teachers were from the northern districts and have students who have been impacted by the recently ended war in Sri Lanka, we had a discussion on how we may use this method to help the children talk about their lives.The teachers felt that it was a useful method to help children talk about their lives in a positive manner, and an opportunity to be able to help them with their past.
Individual counselling by Radhika Chellaiah The staff at ESCAPE (Eradication of Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution and Exploitation) are now using the Tree of Life to talk to the children they counsel. It is often a difficult thing for these kids to talk.We’re finding that inviting children to draw their Tree and asking them questions to label the various parts of the Tree is helping the children to speak about their lives.
A picture of the first children who completed the Tree of Life exercise in Soweto, South Africa (Ncube, 2006)
Further reading and resources The Kite of Life and Tree of Life are examples of collective narrative methodologies. For more information about this way of working, please see: Denborough, D. (2008). Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications. Denborough, D. (2010). Kite of Life: From intergenerational conflict to intergenerational alliance. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Foundation.
A compost bin seems a must for the children we work with.We are often working with children when they are still dealing with issues of trauma and abuse which was reflected as compost in their drawing of the Tree. Of course, the Tree of Life helps them to focus on the positive things in their lives as well, their talents and skills.
Ncube, N. (2006). The Tree of Life Project: Using narrative ideas in work with vulnerable children in Southern Africa. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, (1), 3–16.
A number of other organisations in different parts of Sri Lanka are also starting to use the Tree of Life, with both children and adults. There may soon by many Forests!
Yuen, A., & White, C. (2007). Conversations about gender, culture, violence & narrative practice: Stories of hope and complexity from women of many cultures. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.
Other relevant publications include:
Web resources include:
Ritual of acknowledgement: Certificates and celebration Where possible, we end the Tree of Life and the Kite of Life with a ritual of acknowledgement. We bring together the significant people in the child’s life (the leaves on the trees), and share the trees and people’s survival skills. We may also award certificates, or read aloud poems, letters or documents about people’s skills. Sometimes songs or prayers or food may also be shared. These are rituals to acknowledge people’s skills of survival.
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Tree of Life Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/269945769703564 Dulwich Centre Foundation website: http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au/dulwich-centre-foundation.html Narrative therapy online: www.narrativetherapyonline.com
Acknowledgements This publication has been funded by the Australian Government from the Direct Aid Program.
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How can we enable children who have experienced abuse and exploitation to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger? And how can we do so in ways that are culturally appropriate? This resource shares two hopeful narrative methodologies, the Kite of Life and the Tree of Life, and describes how they are being used in Sri Lanka. It also conveys the history of this unique project. The Kite of Life was originally developed with Sri Lankans living in Canada. Now it is being used back in Sri Lanka with vulnerable children and children who have survived abuse. Included in this publication are letters shared between Sri Lanka and Canada about the significance of this collaboration. It is hoped that this resource will be helpful to workers who are responding to vulnerable children.
This publication has been funded by the Australian Government’s Direct Aid Program.
Hutt St P.O. Box 7192 Adelaide, South Australia 5000 www.dulwichcentre.com.au Phone: +61 8 8223 3966 Fax: +61 8 8232 4441
[email protected] LEADS www.leads.lk
[email protected] Phone: 0117398101-6
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