by Marie Vagedes, LCSW
A little less than a year ago, I had the opportunity to join with a group of primary school teachers working in Lusaka, Zambia through the Temwani Children’s Foundation volunteer trip. This opportunity for connection took on the form of a 6-day workshop that my dear friend and colleague Leah Berger and I facilitated at the Kondwa Day Centre for teachers working at area schools within N’gombe compound.

The workshop focused on grief and loss issues in children. The material for the workshop was drawn from our combined personal and professional experiences. Read more

By Laurie Holland

After my first trip to Zambia in 2006, I observed a great number of orphaned children grieving the loss of loved ones who had died from HIV/AIDS. Upon my return to San Jose State University, I devoted my graduate thesis research to “grief intervention for AIDS-orphaned children in Africa”. When I returned to Zambia in the summer of 2007, I had the inspiring opportunity to implement many of the creative arts activities from this research with two groups of young Zambian girls ages nine to fourteen.

Laurie with the girls in the grief workshop.

Memory Books & Psychodrama

I found memory books to be by far the greatest tool in assisting the girls to process their pain and loss. Read more