Give an overview of the community that your intervention and the specific mental health issue that you are targeting.
The community I am going to work on is going to be the Eritrean diaspora in London.
Eritrea is country that is based in East Africa, which currently going through political, religious and social freedom difficulties. I am aware that this specific community originally come from Eritrea and settle in the UK as a refugee or asylum seekers.
A thousand of Eritreans young men and women flee the country every year due to this crises.
These young people go through so much to try and reach a safe place abroad where they can find liberty and basic human right.
On their initial journey they leave Eritrea illegally as every youth in Eritrea are not allowed to leave the country before completing a national service.
If they get cought up in the borders they get heavy punishments and get imprisoned.
However, if they make it to neighbouring countries such as Sudan their journey would most likely continue till they reach Europe.
Throughout these journeys they make risky decisions of either life or death until they reach a safe.
Throughout these displacements they face serious abuse, violence and human trafficking.
Women specially are very vulnerable and are subject to serious forms of sexual violence.
They face serious danger by security guards and kidnapped by human traffickers, where they face maltreatment and sexual abuse.
They have to take risks to go through the most dangerous Mediterranean sea to reach Europe.
These journies are catastrophic and causes great damage on their life. Therefore, those who do make it safely to Europe arrive with so much traumatic experiences. Hence, why I will be targeting traumatic stress in youth within the diaspora in London.
Human trafficking exerts psychological effects on survivors that persist after intervention, and even after community reintegration.
Effects include anxiety, depression, alienation, disorientation, aggression, suicidal ideation, attention deficit, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Community supports and coping mechanisms may mitigate these effects
Critically discuss previous community level interventions that have addressed this problem or communities that share characteristics with the community that you wish to support
Studies suggest that individuals who are traumatized experience disruptions in major beliefs such as, benevolence of the world, safety, personal vulnerability and feelings of powerlessness. Consequently, the way these individuals make sense of or find meaning in the world may be altered.
Evidences from worldwide on trauma from major disasters shows that interventions are not enough to address the impact of these kind of trauma.
WHO, (2003) indicated that to understand the issue from scratch and address it is key to supporting such traumatised individuals and communities.
However, after these sort of experience results in traumatic stress, the functioning of families and the wider community must be reinstated for social, economic, and political rehabilitation.
