(Left) RefuSHE para-counselors during their 10-week Trauma-Informed Train the Trainers program; (middle and right) Para-counselors honored after receiving their certification as part of World Mental Health Day event on RefuSHE's campus.
For refugee girls and women living in Nairobi, the journey to safety is rarely the end of their struggle. Many carry deep-rooted trauma stemming from violent conflict, gender-based violence, and exploitation. These invisible wounds can manifest physically as chronic pain, insomnia, severe anxiety, and emotional dysregulation.
Traditional talk therapy, while highly valuable, can sometimes fall short; many survivors find it incredibly difficult to verbally articulate their deepest traumas due to language barriers, cultural stigmas, or the biological reality of how trauma shuts down the brain's speech centers. This is why RefuSHE has integrated somatic healing techniques - including trauma-informed yoga classes - into its mental health programming.
REFUSHE'S TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA PROGRAM
In 2022, RefuSHE launched a partnership with Yoga Alliance to bring trauma-informed yoga to our campus and Safe House shelter in Nairobi. The participant feedback indicates the profound impact that trauma-informed yoga has made - in terms of mental and physical health, and in creating a sense of community.
BRINGING YOGA TO COMMUNITIES ACROSS NAIROBI
Recognizing the transformative power of this somatic practice, RefuSHE is taking a bold next step by expanding its trauma-informed yoga program far beyond its physical campus and Safe House walls. The engine driving this expansion is our network of mental health para-counselors.
RefuSHE's 17 para-counselors - who are refugees themselves - are often the first point of contact for mental health services in their communities, delivering psychological first aid and mental health screenings to refugee women and host community members in seven locations across metropolitan Nairobi.
Earlier this month, our para-counselors completed a 10-week Trauma-Informed Yoga Training of Trainers program. Now certified, they will soon lead yoga classes in their communities, expanding yoga access to hundreds of refugee and host community women within safe, culturally-attuned spaces. To recruit yoga participants, our para-counselor network will tap into our network of 30 Women Ambassador Groups.
A big thank you to Yoga Alliance and OMPowerment for supporting and advising the development and expansion of our our trauma-informed yoga program. Learn more about all our Mental Health program.
