AMI Missionaries

“Tutapona!” means “We will be healed!” in the Swahili language, and it’s a phrase we hear resonating through refugee camps and through people’s lives. For tens of thousands of people around the world, it has marked the beginning of a hope-filled future. 

For over 10 years, Tutapona has been providing quality, group based, mental health programming, rooted in Biblical principals, with internally displaced people and people living as refugees in both Uganda and Iraq to address the experiences they’ve been through. But the people they serve are more than just numbers. They are mothers, brothers, fathers, and daughters. They are leaders, teachers, and parents. And the children we support are not just surviving - they are thriving, bringing hope and peace into their families and communities now that they have fostered it within themselves.

Tutapona began to address the effects of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda, which was wreaking havoc on the population there - leaving orphans and widows in its path and recruiting child soldiers and slaves as it moved through. The impact and lasting effects were enormous, and people were without hope. Today, Uganda continues to be one of the top three refugee receiving nations in the world. 
In 2016, Tutapona also made the decision to respond to the Syrian conflict in the Middle East, which is one of the largest ongoing humanitarian crises of our time. Since the start of Tutapona in 2008, over 50,000 people have been impacted through their programs. 

In 2019, Tutapona field staff were inspired by a young girl who had been disguised as an adult so she could take place in an adult trauma-care program. Tutapona then noticed children hanging on the fringes of their programs- peeking through windows and around door frames- listening to what was being said. They were confident that given the right skills, these little ones would overcome their current circumstances and go on to change and impact their worlds for the better. This is how the Heroes Journey Children’s Program came to be. 

The Heroes Journey is more than just a program; it’s a hands-on experience that provides a safe place for children with the aim of improving the mental, emotional, behavioral, relational, and spiritual well-being of the participants. It focuses on building resilience through the attributes of hope, gratitude, kindness, faith and courage to overcome their current and future challenges. The story of Joseph is used to teach the children how he used these skills and attributes to overcome the obstacles and hardships he faced.

All of Tutapona’s programs are founded in Biblical principles as well as Post-traumatic Growth Theory and are overseen by a Global Mental Health Advisory Committee of mental health professionals. 

More About Tutapona - Programming Focus

Tutapona is a Christ-centered organization working with some of the world’s most war-affected communities providing quality mental health services. 
The results among program participants show a measurable reduction in trauma, as well as an increased well-being, and resilience to face future challenges. To date over 50,000 people have taken part in one of their programs, beginning a journey towards emotional healing. 
Tutapona’s multi-national team of over 40 mental health professionals remain committed to walking alongside those affected by war and conflict in their journey towards emotional healing. Tutapona hires and trains local staff to deliver our curricula in a culturally relevant way. 

Our programmatic activities include:

• GROW- an adult focused, group trauma rehabilitation program

• Heroes Journey- a group-based children’s curriculum 

• Individual Therapeutic Support Sessions 

• MHPSS mainstreaming trainings for partner organizations 

• GROW is a community-based trauma rehabilitation program which aims to improve the mental, emotional, behavioral, relational, and spiritual well-being of participants by fostering attributes that cultivate the right environment and conditions for growth to take place. The nine sessions are facilitated over a two-week period and designed for groups of approximately 20 people. 

This curriculum is based on the therapeutic concept of Post-traumatic Growth (PTG), which describes the experience of individuals whose development has “not only survived, but has experienced changes that are viewed as important, and that go beyond what was the previous status quo.” (Tedeschi, R., Calhoun, L., 2004). Participants are guided through a process that seeks to develop hope, belief, gratitude, kindness, and courage to forgive. 

A short follow up program occurs three months after the conclusion of the program. It is designed to reinforce understanding of the key principles covered, and allow Tutapona staff the opportunity to reconnect with the community and evaluate progress. 

Tutapona’s GROW program graduates across Uganda and Iraq have an average self-reported trauma symptom reduction of more than 45% in their Screen for Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (SPTSS). 

The Heroes Journey 

Heroes Journey is a child-focused, Posttraumatic Growth program with an emphasis on positive growth. This curriculum is designed for war-affected children who are in the middle years of development (around ages 10-12) in East Africa and the Middle East. In Uganda, over 60% of the refugee population are under the age of 18 (UNHCR, 2018). 

Despite extraordinarily high adversity, with the right tools and access to safe places to process, those who have experienced traumatic events can not only develop resilience but have the potential to grow and live more fulfilled lives. Heroes Journey is a two-week curriculum in which local mental health professionals guide groups of 20 participants through the nine sessions that seek to develop hope, belief, gratitude, kindness, and the courage to forgive. The Heroes Journey is highly interactive, utilizing child-friendly activities such as games, stories, songs, play and art, with the aim of improving the mental, emotional, behavioral, relational, and spiritual well- being of participants. 

In addition, the Heroes Journey utilizes elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness and Shame Resilience Theory, among other interventions to empower participants to process their experience and develop positive coping practices. A critical facet of the program is the provision of coaching for parents and teachers to assist them to help participants as they recover and develop after traumatic events. A follow-up celebration event is offered to participants of Heroes Journey approximately 3 months after the initial program to refresh key concepts and check on participant progress. 

Individual Therapeutic Support 

Individual Therapeutic Support sessions allow participants space to process current or past hardships. For people in need of more specialized mental health support, staff actively facilitate referral pathways linking people of concern with psychiatric care, and other partner services, where available. 

WHERE WE WORK 

Uganda 

Tutapona started in 2008 to address the emotional effects of war and conflict in northern Uganda involving the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who were known for attacking civilians, physically mutilating, raping, pillaging, abducting young children, and leaving orphans and widows in their wake. 

Today, over a decade later, Uganda is one of the top three refugee receiving nations in the world. We continue to work there, with an active registration from the Office of the Prime Minister to provide targeted, high quality mental health support to some of the 1.4 million people currently registered as refugees or seeking asylum. 

This huge displaced population has been generated by conflict in neighboring countries including South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The people we work with have experienced extreme war-related trauma and adversity. 

1.4 MILLION Total Refugee and Asylum Seeker Population in Uganda 

Current Projects: 
Field offices in Adjumani and Nakivale Refugee Settlements, working with people from South Sudan, DRC, Burundi, Somalia, Rwanda and host community members. 

Programmatic Scale:
Tutapona supports over 4,000 people directly and a further 20,000 indirectly per year.
47.8 % Average self-reported reduction of trauma symptomatology among program graduates. 46.9 % Average self-reported reduction of trauma symptomatology among program graduates. 

Kurdistan, Iraq 
In 2016, we expanded our operations to respond to the Syrian conflict in the Middle East which is one of the largest ongoing humanitarian crises of our time. 

The war on ISIS from 2014-2016, combined with the genocide of the Yazidi people, resulted in the displacement of 6 million people, with 1.8 million of those still seeking refuge away from their homes. These two recent crises, and the slaughter of 50,000 Kurds in the eighties under the regime of Saddam Hussein, have caused significant damage to social structures and to individual mental health in the region. 

Tutapona’s team is based in Kurdistan, Iraq responding to the significant need for mental health services among Syrian refugees and Iraqi Internally Displaced People (IDPs). 

Current Projects: 

1 MILLION Total Refugee and IDP Population in Kurdistan, Iraq 
Working with Yazidi IDPs and Syrian refugees in Esyan Camp and Domiz Camp, Duhok governorate. 

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Programmatic Scale:
Tutapona serves over 450 people directly and a further 2,250 indirectly per year. 60% of the refugee population are under the age of 18 (UNHCR, 2018). 

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