Global One School Leading the Way
Our latest project bringing PTSD relief to the people of Africa is now underway amidst the legendary poverty of the Kibera slum skirting Nairobi, Kenya. Of the many hundreds of thousands of children, women and men living in Kibera, it is estimated that 20% of them live with ongoing traumatic stress resulting from extreme poverty and violence.
Global One Foundation, led by its visionary founder and practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, Justin Vero, is dedicated to fostering thriving lives for the world’s youngest citizens through an integrated, whole-systems approach to education and development.
And the latest addition to the Global One developmental toolkit for their school in Kibera? Transcendental Meditation.
Over the past five months, African PTSD Relief has been supporting the National TM organization of Kenya to teach TM to teachers and staff of the Global One School. Through the continuing generosity of APR’s donors, the first groups among the several hundred children of the school are now scheduled to begin learning TM over the coming weeks.
The results for the teachers so far have been, in Justin’s own words, “wholesome, even remarkable.”
We asked Justin to summarize the initial impact of TM at the Global One School and here is what he had to say:
"TM has been nothing short of pivotal in aiding our staff's well-being and therefore a powerful catalyst for Global One Foundation's mission in Kibera.
Our teachers have reported first hand that TM is alleviating somatic tension through the release of daily accumulation of stress that comes with teaching and living in Kibera. It's clearing anxiety, improving memory and mood as the body-mind deeply relaxes.
It has helped one teacher specifically by ameliorating an uncommon breathing complication that medicine and herbs were ineffective with. Further, I've been touched that our head-teacher was graced with an easier grief period after the recent loss of her husband.
In all that I've observed, TM is gifting our staff with a deeper level of wholeness and allowing for more positive affect. It's noticeably felt and seen on our site visits throughout their schedule. Our team's work also seems more meaningful and they comment more about how much they love the education work we are doing in Kibera.
As a result, I also think TM is helping to create the strongest team cohesion we have had as a staff since founding in 2012. I can't say enough about this partnership; its played a catalyzing role in bringing out the best in all of us and its ripples are reaching the community and ideals we are aiming to serve."
We at African PTSD Relief sincerely look forward to continuing this transformational work with Global One Foundation and reporting the results of our partnership to you in future newsletters.
Below you can see comments from some of the staff at Global One School ––
"TM (Transcendental Meditation) has helped me be calmer in handling issues that otherwise I would have done in a rush, and wrong way. In time of shock or trauma I simply take time to meditate and after a quiet and relaxing moment, I feel relaxed and make a decision." This was practically useful last month when I faced a series of traumatizing moments." |