Maryknoll Sisters

With Maryknoll Sr. Euphrasia Nyaki, Mariemat Toussaint (r) in Haiti is learning how to heal from the trauma that came with the 2010 earthquake.

Since November 18, I have been working with Maryknoll Fr. Dennis Moorman, doing trauma-healing work in Port-au-Prince as a follow up to the training we gave in January, on the first year anniversary of the big earthquake in Haiti.  We were met at the airport by Maryknoll Fr. Romane St. Vil, a Haitian-American who speaks Haitian Creole and has been a very good host to us.

Upon arrival, we went directly to the Archdiocesan Episcopal Center, where we met with 27 of the community leaders who we had trained in trauma-healing in January of 2011.  When we met with these leaders over the weekend we were quite pleased with their practice of applying what they had learned in working with people affected by the earthquake in their communities.  They gave us feedback from the trauma-healing work they have been doing and we clarified some of their questions and doubts and gave further training for expanding their skills in healing trauma.

In addition, we have been working with the communities where many of these young leaders live.  In one of the communities where we spent four days, we attended to 54 people–a mixture of men, women and children, who two years after the earthquake were still living with post-traumatic stress syndromes.  

One 43-year-old woman, Mariemat Toussaint, had lost her husband in the earthquake, and was left with five kids to raise on her own.   She was very badly injured herself in the earthquake by the crumbling wall of their own house, which they also lost.  After the earthquake Mariemat was taken to the local hospital with two broken knees and two broken collar bones.  She was admitted to the local hospital, where she spent three months.  They were able to successfully treat her broken knees and the right collar bone, but her left side was not treated.

She told me that when she tries to sleep at night, her left collar bone will slide from one side to another and cover her throat, interfering with her breathing.  So, as I did a session with her, we dealt with the traumatic situation which was leaving her with extreme pains, desperation and fears.  What we were not able to resolve was her ongoing physical pain and the uncomfortable situation that occurs when she wants to sleep.  

Mariemat has been living with this unbearable situation for almost two years now. With a trauma-healing session she was alleviated from the emotional turmoil, but she continues to live with the physical aspect that would require surgery for correction.

We are hoping that one of our readers might be inspired to help Mariemat to get that corrective surgery and help her to be able to sleep well so that she can take better care of her five children.  

 – Sister Euphrasia Nyaki, MM

Sister Efu is helping Haitians recover from the traumas caused by the massive earthquake.

I am now in Haiti and have been here since November 18. The day we arrived were met at the Airport by Maryknoll Father Roman Saint Vil, who took us directly to the diocesan training center in the city of Port-au-Prince, where 32 community leaders were waiting for us.

These leaders from different communities were trained for trauma healing last January, a year after the big earthquake. Maryknoll Father Dennis Moorman and I trained these leaders with the expectation that they will be able to attend to people in their communities who still suffer from the  post-traumatic stress syndromes caused by the earthquake or by the extreme poverty and violence that people experience daily. 

On November 19th and 20th, we listened to the testimonies of the community leaders about their work on trauma healing using the method of Somatic Experiencing, a natural method created by Peter Levine.

We were happy to see that these young leaders are so well-dedicated to the healing of their own people. We gave more training this month to give them more confidence in their work. 

This week we are in the part of the city known as Leogan, where 90 percent of the population was affected by the earthquake. We are attending to individuals that the leaders have pointed out as having many psychosomatic problems.

Today, Tuesday we attended to 12 members of the community. I am writting from my cell phone. Tomorrow, if we have electricity, I can write more details about the seasons that we have with people here.

We will be in Leogan until Friday night and then we will go back to the city of Port-au-Prince for more work there. We will be in Haiti until December 12. 

Peace, love and healing,

Sister Euphrasia “Efu” Nyaki, MM