Something else I do

Not everything I do with my time is related to embroidery (however nice that would be!). I also do a small amount of freelance design and illustration work, seeing my degree is in graphic design.

Yesterday I spent most of the day working on some illustrations for Traumaid International, an amazing organisation that works with people around the world, but primarily in Africa, who have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When you read horrific accounts of mass rape, as I did in this week’s newspaper, you can understand that most of the people in such environments are severely traumatised. And this is just an account that made it into our western news. There would be many situations that we never hear of.

The powerhouse behind Traumaid is Dr Jennifer Dawson, whose research in PTSD has meant that her methods of treating trauma are having the most amazing results. Jennifer runs trauma workshops with survivors and community leaders in places around the world where large-scale disaster has caused trauma. She teaches the participants about why they react to situations the way they do – completely demystifying what have previously been baffling behaviours – and how they can work with their community to become whole again.

It is an absolute privilege to be part of this work. My part is to create pictorial depictions of the situations these people face, such as retraumatisation, inappropriate and appropriate ways of coping, and symptoms of trauma. Pictures work in these cultures, where literacy levels are often extremely low. And Jennifer’s work is having amazing results.

Below is one of the illustrations I have created for Jenny to use in her trauma training.If you’d like to read more about Traumaid, please visit the Traumaid website. You can learn more, donate, and those of you who are “quilty” type people, there is a “Quilts for the Congo” program, where you can create quilts for orphan children at the Baraka Academy in DR Congo.