I Will Not Be Broken

Survivor Corps US Program Update

8/26/2008 10:33:23 PM

Elizabeth Miner
Survivor Corps Communications Associate

Last week was a busy one for the Survivor Corps US Program.  On August 18th and 19th, Survivor Corps hosted a round table discussion for organizations serving the recovery and reintegration needs of US Veterans. Participants discussed the value of connecting newly returned service members and veterans with other veterans who had been through the same experience for support.   This type of relationship helps both individuals to overcome traumatic experiences and participate in community.
 
This approach, known as peer support, is a cornerstone of Survivor Corps' work.  For ten years, we have used peer support to help survivors of armed conflict overcome their injuries, rebuild their lives, and rejoin their communities.  We are now adapting this knowledge and experience to serve those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Thomas Wilson, Director of Government Relations at Survivor Corps, attended the round table and had this to say:

It was fantastic.  About 13 organizations came together from three states.   It was great to see that, although we all came from different parts of the country, we all work toward the same goal – helping our nation’s heroes.  It was a great reminder that what we do is for those who have born the cost of battle.  It was great to hear veterans stand up and speak on how peer support helps them.  It was clear that we have much to learn from veterans about how we can help in the healing process.  Truly inspiring time!
 
On Thursday, Survivor Corps founder Jerry White and US Program Manager Scott Quilty visited Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX.  They spent time with injured soldiers recovering in the hospital ward, hearing their stories and sharing their own stories of recovery – Jerry from a landmine accident in Israel in 1984 and Scott from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while serving in Iraq. Listening to the perspective of veterans, their caregivers and families is essential to designing a program that truly serves their needs. Scott sent these remarks back to us from the road:

We visited with Calvin from New Orleans. Calvin was a vehicle mechanic who was shot in the stomach and left arm while on Convoy with his unit in Iraq. Calvin described to us that his strength in the past four months has come from his children, although it was difficult to see his son cry when they first met upon his return. In time I think Calvin will see that how he overcomes his adversity will become a source of strength for his son, despite the initial shock.
 
Next we met Jon, a Native American from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jon was injured when an IED detonated under his vehicle while on patrol. He has severe burns to his thigh and lost a finger on his left hand, but considers himself lucky to have escaped with such minor injuries. The vehicle that he was driving was a total loss. It was obvious that Jon's family has always been a source of his strength, and that Jon has all the ingredients for a full recovery.
 
We then met Andrew, who stepped on an IED less then 20 days ago while on patrol in Helmund Province, Afghanistan. Andrew lost his left leg below the knee, and suffered severe damage to his right leg and left arm.  Andrew described the anger he felt initially, but said that he has since let that go and now accepts what happened to him. It was clear that facing facts for Andrew will be a daily decision, and Jerry discussed this with him. He noticed our prostheses almost immediately, and wanted to know how we were injured and how long it took us to get back on our feet. Andrew's parents wanted us to share our story with them and their son, and Andrew's mother later came down to see Jerry speak in the auditorium. When we inquired if Andrew was coming to the presentation, his mom thanked us for remembering her son's name.
 
Our last inpatient visit was with Teressa. Teressa injured her knee back in 2006 while serving in Iraq as a supply specialist. For many reasons beyond her control, Teressa was just now getting the surgery she needed. She was angry, and talked at length with Jerry about that anger, but she also described her plan to become the medic that she wanted to be before her injury.

Scott and Jerry also talked with military and civilian caregivers, administrators and staff at Brook Army Medical Center about building resilience and rising above tragedy.  They discussed the Five Steps to survivorship that Jerry describes in his book, I Will Not Be Broken.

Face Facts
Choose Life
Reach Out
Get Moving
Give Back 

These steps, drawn from the experiences of survivors of crisis from all walks of life, also apply to veterans who are struggling to move past their war experiences and rejoin civilian life. An anonymous Survivor Corps donor paid for fifty copies of I Will Not Be Broken to be distributed to the patients and caregivers at Brook.

Jerry and Scott brought a simple message of hope and support to the men and women at Brook Army Medical Center.  You can do the same.  Click here to send a message of support to a US veteran, or to a survivor of war or violence in another part of the world. Then join the discussion about survivorship and resilience.

Cluster bomb clearance in Lebanon may be discontinued.

8/22/2008 8:01:00 PM

Elizabeth Miner

Survivor Corps Communications Associate

 Until last week, when Russia dropped cluster bombs on the neighboring country of Georgia, cluster munitions had not been used since Israel dropped them on Lebanon during their 2006 war with Hezbollah. Since that conflict ended, 27 civilians in Lebanon have been killed and 234 wounded by unexploded ordnance, mostly cluster munitions, while 13 bomb disposal experts have been killed and 39 wounded, according to Dalya Farran of the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC).  Now UNMACC says they will have to suspend their cluster munitions clearance program in Lebanon by the end of the month due to lack of funding.  Read the full story here.

This development highlights the critical importance of a ban on this weapon.  Once cluster bombs have been dropped in an area, civilian safety cannot be guaranteed in that area again.  Clearance efforts are slow, dangerous and costly, and success is not certain. If the unexploded cluster bomblets in Lebanon are not cleared away, they will continue to cause collateral damage for decades to come, as they have Vietnam where lives continue to be lost to cluster bomblets left over from the Vietnam War.

Russia is being called upon to immediately release detailed information about the cluster bombs they dropped in Georgia last week so that clearance efforts can begin before more civilians are killed.  Rather than comply, Russia is denying that they used cluster munitions at all.

Click here to join the international movement to ban cluster munitions.

Helping Others Get Through Catastrophe

8/14/2008 2:08:00 PM

Elizabeth Miner
Survivor Corps Communications Associate

On Tuesday afternoon, Survivor Corps founder Jerry White was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders with host Jean Feraca.  Listen to a podcast of the interview.

One of the topics discussed was how to help a friend or loved one going through a crisis. Do you ever find yourself wanting to be supportive, but at a loss for how to help?  In I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, Jerry shares this simple formula for support developed by Doctors Echterling, Presbury and McKee at James Madison University.

Listen
Understand
Validate their experience.

LUV!  In other words, resist the urge to give lots of advice, or to essentially say, "cheer up!"  Instead, just be present and receptive and focus on the person's inner strengths and courage.

Or, as Princess Diana so eloquently put it, “Care enough to show up.”

For more insight into how to help someone through hard times, download this chapter from I Will Not Be Broken.   

Helping others get through catastrophe: Or, how not to make things worse.

Then click here to share your story of survival, or of supporting another person through a crisis.  What did you find was most helpful?

Did you know? Giving back increases serotonin, a natural feel-good chemical in the brain.  Feel better today - pay it forward!

Take the Survivor Pledge

8/7/2008 3:14:23 PM

If you watched Survivor Corps founder Jerry White this morning on Good Morning America, you may have heard him mention the Survivor Pledge.  What is the Pledge?  It's a personal commitment to enact survivorship in your own life.

I will not be a victim.
I will rise above.
I will give back.
I will change the world.

So take the pledge today.  Join the discussion and share what that means for you.

We Are All Survivors.

8/7/2008 4:14:43 AM

Jerry White
Executive Director of Survivor Corps

People often ask me how my book, I WILL NOT BE BROKEN, relates to the work of Survivor Corps.

The book I WILL NOT BE BROKEN describes how we are all connected as survivors.  Because in some way or another, we all are or will be victims of trauma and tragedy––pain is one of the hallmarks of human existence.  Whether it comes in the form of the unexpected death of someone dear to us, the loss of hope for our child’s future, the slip that puts us in a wheelchair, or an act of violence; we all face suffering.

I WILL NOT BE BROKEN offers a five-step plan we can all use to rise above our suffering—our anger, our pain, our heartache—and to give back.  It is through giving and working together, not staying separate, that we make sure that we all have a better destiny.  Only by recognizing the pain in ourselves do we begin to see others in pain as our brothers and sisters.  As we work through our own pain, we find it satisfying, and even part of our recovery process, to reach out and help others work through their pain.

Survivor Corps is a place people can act on these feelings of empathy and the desire to reach out.  By doing so, we actually begin to “fix” the primary causes of man-made violence:  social exclusion and neglect.  Survivor Corps is a worldwide network of people helping each other overcome the effects of war and violence.  Working together, we find ways to rise above our injuries and give back to our communities, building a safer, more secure future for all.  

All net proceeds from sales I WILL NOT BE BROKEN will benefit Survivor Corps programs to help victims of violent conflict heal and rebuild their communities. Click here to get your copy.

Share your thoughts about survivorship.  Are you a survivor?

Notes from the Field – Advocacy Project Peace Fellow Blogs

8/1/2008 1:10:23 PM

Elizabeth Miner
Communications Associate

In partnership with Survivor Corps, the Advocacy Project has placed Peace Fellows with Survivor Corps partners around the world to help tell their stories, in part by blogging about their experiences.

Krystal is spending the summer in Amman, Jordan with Survivor Corps partner LSN-Jordan. Here's an excerpt from her blog:

"We went to a sitting volleyball tournament hosted by the Jordan Paralympic Committee. It’s called 'sitting' volleyball because all the players have either leg amputations or disabilities and are thus sitting on the floor to play. To accommodate them, the net is lowered and the playing area is decreased. I was in absolute amazement at how quickly these men were able to maneuver around on the floor with only their hands, chasing after the ball and giving each other high-fives and slaps on the back... It was definitely inspiring to observe how much fun they were having and how normal they felt. 

Fortunately, the Jordanian government has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities…I feel very lucky to be working on disability rights issues in Jordan at this moment in time as this topic is at the forefront of the national agenda."

Read more of Krystal's blog.

Larissa is working with Survivor Corps partner LSN-El Salvador.  She had this to say about the survivors she has met in El-Salvador:

"Earlier today, one of my co-workers offered to take me to his nephew’s farm sometime to relax in the fresh mountain air. I heartily agreed, and asked about the rest of his family. That is, the family that is left. Of his immediate family, only six of his twelve siblings and his mother survived the war. As he noted, he was 'lucky enough' to only lose half of his arm, 'thanks be to God.'

Last week, at a small business and leadership training for survivors, I fell into conversation with one of the attendees, a man with one leg and a heart of (non-prosthetic) gold. He was telling me how life was difficult in the countryside, even for a hard-working man like himself. The bus prices were increasing, people were killing each other still, and staying mentally and physically healthy in a tumultuous world is not easy. And yet, he felt peace, 'because there is no peace like that peace which is in your own heart.'"

Read more of Larissa's blog.

Exploring Great Need and Great Opportunity in Africa – First stop: Uganda

7/21/2008 2:17:43 PM

Michael Moore
Survivor Corps Program Officer

I recently returned from an exploratory trip to the Great Lakes Region of Africa, looking for organizations and individuals with whom Survivor Corps can establish partnerships in order to reach out to conflict Survivors in the region.  While there, I saw both overwhelming need, and great potential for meaningful collaboration and work that will really help change the lives of so many conflict survivors in this region.

Our first stop was Kampala, Uganda.  In Kampala I met with a young man, Ricky, who had been abducted when he was 14 and forced to join the Lord's Resistance Army, a guerrilla army that has been fighting an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government since 1987.  After 2 and half years "in the bush," Ricky escaped and went into a rehabilitation program.  He then went on to university and has started his own organization, Friends of Orphans, which does rehabilitation and job training for other former child soldiers.  He tells a pretty awful tale of his parents being locked in a house and burned to death shortly after his abduction, but didn't say much about his time with the LRA.  He's a pretty remarkable guy and I think we could learn a lot from him.  His job training program currently helps more than 120 former soldiers each year, setting them up with small businesses doing construction or other semi-skilled labor.

While in Uganda, we also drove through one of the camps for people who were displaced by the conflict.  There haven't been any attacks by the LRA in two years and yet the camps are still heaving with people.  Some of them have been there for 10 or more years.  The houses (mud huts with grass roofs) are maybe 15 feet in diameter and house families of up to 10 individuals.  And there are hundreds of these houses in the camp we visited.  People are living in filth, utterly dependent upon handouts from the World Food Program or other development agencies.  Schools are practically non-existent and where they can be found, there are a hundred students for every teacher and all of the grades are taught together.  The camps are slowly becoming more permanent.  Less than 10% of the people who had been moved to the camps have gone home and many are from neighboring countries (DR Congo and Sudan) and can't go home.  There are thousands of children who have been born in the camps and are essentially
rootless. So many have no homes left; they were either burned by the LRA or the Ugandan government or, because no one has a deed to their property, they can't prove that the land that they used to live on is theirs.

I want to feel good about what I'm doing here, but I was just overwhelmed by what I saw. And yet, the meetings we had here in Uganda were full of positivity.  People working in the area say the worst is over.  There is at least one Italian NGO that has been here for 20 years and is still expanding its staff and operations. I saw a small workshop for brick-making that was run by landmine survivors, but it only employs 18 people.  Overall, the benefits of humanitarian efforts have been small and isolated.

Join the discussion about Survivor Corps new programs in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Multimedia Sampling of I Will Not Be Broken by Survivor Corps founder Jerry White

7/8/2008 3:12:35 PM

Elizabeth Miner
Survivor Corps Communications Associate

I Will Not Be Broken by Survivor Corps founder Jerry White has been generating some exciting buzz online – check it out.

This podcast interview with Jerry on Written Voices Radio details the five steps to recovering from trauma and crisis—Face Facts; Choose Life; Reach Out; Get Moving; and Give Back—and includes and in-depth discussion with Jerry on resilience. http://www.writtenvoices.com

Guy Kawasaki did a great interview with Jerry about the Art of Survival. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

Readers from all walks of life are blogging about I Will Not Be Broken. Robin is a mom from Tel Aviv, Israel and author of the blog Around the Island.  After reading the book, Robin is now a big fan of Survivor Corps. http://aroundtheisland.blogspot.com/

Ree of Hot Reviews Books liked the book so much she wrote her very first Hot Reviews Books post about it, and offered to gift a copy to a commenter on the site to help spread the word. http://hotreviewsbooks.blogspot.com/

We're so humbled and grateful for the support, especially since all proceeds from sales of the book benefit Survivor Corps.  You can get your own copy here: www.amazon.com.  Then join the conversation about I Will Not Be Broken on our discussion board, or write a book review on Amazon or your own blog, and be sure to send us a link!

The Reintegration Conversation

6/26/2008 10:21:57 AM

ScottQuilty                                                                                                     Survivor Corps U.S. Program Manager

This past week I accompanied Thomas Wilson, Survivor Corps’ Director of Government Relations, to a hearing on Capital Hill about the Reintegration of National Guardsmen and women and Reservists following their service. The hearing was a continuation of a discussion that began over a year ago on the Hill on how the different government departments and agencies could better cooperate to help returning service members successfully reintegrate.

In my 5 months as the U.S. Program Manager at Survivor Corps, and in my 18 months prior as a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here in D.C., I've heard many debates on the recovery and rehabilitation of service members and veterans physically injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, but less discussion about how to help them overcome the mental and emotional scars. Recovery and rehabilitation from the bodily wounds are important and formative parts of a much bigger picture. The Subcommittee hearing touched on this bigger picture as they debated the issue of reintegration.

Reintegration into society after a traumatic event is the whole point of recovery and rehabilitation – we focus on healing so we can get back to our lives. When I was injured while on patrol in Iraq, I knew that hospital treatment would heal my body, but that the real healing of the mind and soul would take place after I left the hospital ward and had to live and work as a productive member of my community. At Survivor Corps, we have come to see reintegration as the process of rising above one's individual hardship and giving back to the community.

My impression leaving the hearing? More cooperation and dialogue is needed, but not only between government agencies and departments. A broader conversation is needed, one that includes service members who have actually been through the struggle to reintegrate, as well as members of their families, communities, and the veteran service and non-governmental organizations that serve them. It's my hope that Survivor Corps can make a meaningful contribution to this ongoing debate by doing what we do best -- bringing the voices of those most affected by war into the conversation, and making sure they are heard.

Read testimony from the Subcommittee hearing on reintegration.

Share your thoughts on the issue of reintegration of service members and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Exploring Great Need and Great Opportunity in Africa – Part Two: Rwanda

6/17/2008 11:14:53 AM

Michael Moore
Survivor Corps Program Officer

I got to Kigali late last night and have finally found my way to an internet café, only to find that they use French language keyboards.  I had to ask the person next to me how to type an @ sign.  ARGH!  Ah well.  Actually, I rather like Kigali.  The people are really friendly and the streets are clean and the city is very orderly. Sure, there's still a long way to go, but if you had not heard about the genocide, you might have a hard time believing that it had happened considering how good and pretty and neat everything seems here. (During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Hutu militias killed over half a million Tutsis and Hutu moderates in just four months.)

I interviewed three survivors of the genocide here in Rwanda, two women and one man.  I was as gentle as I could be, asking about their experiences and asking about how they have overcome the effects, but one of the women was crying by the end of the interview, the other was choked up and the man, same age as my father, was choking up.  What happened to the two women was simply horrific; I won't go into the details, but I was torn up doing the interviews.  My hope is that the interviews can be used to help raise money for the organization that has been working with them, Trust and Care.  Trust and Care provides home-based care for people living with HIV / AIDS and also food packets and small business assistance.  The women who work for Trust and Care are all volunteers and they do an amazing amount of work with almost no funding.  Even though Rwanda has come so far since the genocide, hearing these stories showed me how much more still needs to be done.

We also saw a few minutes of a gacaca court, which is the traditional justice mechanism that is being used to expedite the thousands and thousands of cases that need to be tried.  The genocide perpetrators are using the gacaca courts to identify mass graves and admit their crimes, but then there is no assistance after the trials to help with reintegration of the perpetrators back into to the communities where they killed and raped Tutsis.  It will be a long-term problem for Rwanda and there are very few organizations addressing the issue.

Meeting with landmine survivors, genocide victims and orphans, and hearing their stories, has been heartbreaking, but it's also amazing to see how resilient people are and just what they are capable of.  I've been left to wonder how I would cope if I had been through similar circumstances and then catching myself; as much as I think I can empathize, there's really no way for me to understand the depth of hurt and trauma the people I have met have been through.  Before I left, many folks were warning me to be careful and I kept reassuring them that I did not want to become a beneficiary of the organization I am working for.  So, needless to say, I've been cautious but also tried to enjoy the experience of seeing new places and meeting new people. This trip has been long, grueling at points, and so very sad, but I'm getting a lot of motivation from the experience.  There's definitely plenty that Survivor Corps can do in the Great Lakes Region.

Join the discussion about Survivor Corps new programs in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

The Lesson of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

6/11/2008 12:34:56 PM

Bill Toliver
Survivor Corps Board Member

I think that history will show that the greatest achievement of Desmond TuTu and Nelson Mandela was not the end of Apartheid, but the public response after the fact.  

After generations of discrimination and violence and inhumanity, the people of black South Africa would certainly have been forgiven if they had spent a few years exacting their revenge against the minority white population. Instead, these victims, numbering in the tens of millions, chose the higher path.  They understood the importance of survivorship. Of rising above their plight and setting a different example.  They understood that they had reached a moment of truth, and they decided en masse–– even though many had lost loved ones and years of their own potential–– to choose the path of reconciliation.  It will remain one of the most profound lessons in hope throughout human history.  Brought to us by this humble little place on the bottom of one of the most forgotten continents in the world.  

I’ve often thought that the work of Survivor Corps is nothing less than to take the incredible possibility that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission represents, and share it with communities of victims around the world.

What do you think are the important elements to choosing the path of Reconciliation?

Celebrating the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

6/5/2008 8:27:40 AM

Riley Abbott
Survivor Corps Program Assistant

I recently traveled with other Survivor Corps staff to Geneva for the celebration of the entry-into-force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Survivor Corps was a leading organization participating in the drafting of this treaty and the campaign for its ratification.  It was really exciting to finally celebrate as the treaty that we've worked on so hard for so long became international law.
 
A high point of the celebrations was a speech by Jesus Martinez, director of Survivor Corps partner organization LSN-El Salvador. Jesus, a survivor also featured in I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry White, has been through a lot on his road to becoming a loud voice for human rights on the international and national stage. Here are a few highlights from his speech:
 
"My 18 years of using a wheelchair to get around have bore me witness to how society maintains different negative stereotypes towards people with disabilities: that it is a health issue, that we are not productive, or that we are of less value.  Now, the 21st century, those of us with disabilities continue seeing violations of our most fundamental rights: Not being able to get around on sidewalks, not being able to use public transport, children being rejected from schools because of having a disability, people that aren’t able to get a job because they use a prothsesis."
 
Jesus can talk about rights abuses because he has experienced them himself. Injured not as a soldier, but as a 17 year old who stepped off a bus and onto a landmine on his way to work, Jesus struggled to rehabilitate his mind and his body.  He admits that his first thoughts were of suicide.  “What was the point of living with no legs?” he says.  But, the more people he met with similar injuries, the more he began to see that he could recover and thrive.  “Why not speak up when I couldn’t get into a building with my wheelchair?  What were they going to do to me?”
 
To Jesus, the Convention is more than a document – it’s a sign of hope and a vital tool for people with disabilities to advocate for their rights and full participation in society.  Jesus is hopeful, too, that the world will change its attitudes toward people with disabilities. 

"After years of discussions and tough negotiations, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been agreed upon by not two countries, not twenty, but one-hundred and twenty-nine countries – almost all the world… This Convention is compelling proof of how capable we are as an international society when we concentrate on our commonalities rather than our differences."

 Share your thoughts on Disability Rights.

New Cluster Munitions Treaty!

5/30/2008 2:38:50 PM

Tracey Begley
Survivor Corps Program Officer
 
This week, I traveled with other Survivor Corps staff members to Dublin Ireland, where over 100 countries met to negotiate a treaty banning cluster munitions.  I was so proud to be able to be there on behalf of Survivor Corps.  We were one of the leading non-governmental organizations attending the negotiations and making sure the voice of survivors was heard. Today, after ten days of intense discussions, a treaty has been negotiated that includes groundbreaking provisions addressing the human rights of those affected by cluster munitions.
 
Because these weapons claim so many innocent victims, (it's estimated that eighty percent of the victims of cluster bombs are civilians) Survivor Corps attended the negotiations and led the charge to include provisions in the treaty that require governments to not only stop using, selling and stockpiling cluster munitions (all essential elements!), but also to assist individuals and families who have been harmed by them, including victims' family members and communities. This is a revolutionary achievement in a weapons treaty.  We're so glad we were able to attend the negotiations, work with governments and campaigners, and help create a treaty that will have a tremendous impact on the lives of survivors around the world. 

Share your comments and questions about the Campaign to Ban Cluster Munitions.