Umuryango Ukomera Uri Hamwe - Families Are Strong Together
Condition: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Aggressive Behaviour; Parental Maltreatment; Days Spent at the Landfill
MeSH terms: Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Aggression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Children living in poverty often are at risk to leave their family to work at the landfill.
      The main reasons for this are torn family systems, family violence, exclusion, poverty and a
      lack of intra-familial communication. Children in the district of Buterere who spend their
      days on the streets or on the landfills of Bujumbura, Burundi to earn a living are
      particularly vulnerable. The project aims to create a safe environment for these young people
      and to strengthen their family structures in the long term. For this purpose, we plan to
      treat traumatized parents psychotherapeutically and to improve their parenting skills within
      the families in group and family sessions. The financial situation is to be improved in the
      medium term through agricultural group projects. In addition, participating children and
      youths will be granted access to school and education, and participate in a skill training
      group to improve social competencies. In the long term, parents are to set up savings and
      micro credit groups in order to ensure the education of the children. The project involves 40
      families, which are particularly affected by poverty and traumatic experiences. The project
      is based on scientific findings of the implementing organizations, which carried out similar
      projects in Burundi in the last years.
    

Detailed description: 
      Children living in poverty often are at risk to leave their family to work at the landfill.
      The main reasons for this are torn family systems, family violence, exclusion, poverty and a
      lack of intra-familial communication. Psychological stress due to past political crises
      diminishes parents' ability to provide a safe environment for their children and often leads
      to maltreatment in the families. Children in the district of Buterere who spend their days on
      the streets or on the landfills of Bujumbura, Burundi to earn a living are particularly
      vulnerable. The project aims to create a safe environment for these young people and to
      strengthen their family structures in the long term to prevent them from losing family
      cohesion due to poverty and lack of support. For this purpose, we plan to treat traumatized
      parents psychotherapeutically and to improve their parenting skills within the families in
      group and family sessions. The individual trauma treatment aims also at reducing aggression
      problems frequently associated with trauma in order to reduce negative consequences for the
      children. The group sessions for parents aim to address subjects such as parenting skills,
      alcohol abuse, family planning, and conflicts amongst couples. The family visits aim at
      reinforcing communication between children and their parents. The financial situation is to
      be improved in the medium term through agricultural group projects. In addition,
      participating children and youths will be granted access to school and education, and
      participate in a skill training group. In the long term, parents are to set up savings and
      micro credit groups in order to ensure the education of the children. This multifactorial
      design should help to reduce the above-mentioned main risk factors for living on the street.
      The project involves 40 families, which are particularly affected by poverty and traumatic
      experiences. The legal guardians within the families are identified at the beginning of the
      project and directly involved to strengthen upbringing skills, to improve the economic
      situation of the family and to enable the adults affected by the violent political crises in
      Burundi to deal with their own psychological problems. In addition, one child between the
      ages of 5 and 20 per family is identified as the main beneficiary. This serves to gain a
      deeper insight into the family's communication and, in particular, to take sufficient account
      of the children's perspective. Through the integral approach of the project, which guarantees
      psychological, medical, social, legal and economic support, the children are to be protected
      from increasing violence on the streets and from family violence in the long term. The
      project is based on scientific findings of the implementing organizations, which carried out
      similar projects in Burundi in the last years.
    

Intervention name(s): Comprehensive family intervention including individual sessions of FORNET
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Families in the intervention group received:
Parents participate in a group intervention once a week for about 20 weeks, including psychoeducation on mental health and drug and alcohol abuse, anger management, family planning, parenting skills, communication skills, and dealing with couples conflicts
Family visits to address topics as family cohesion, intra-familial communication and psychological basic need of children
Trauma-focused therapies (FORNET), which aim also at reducing violent behaviour
Parents receive training regarding agriculture and micro credit projects, and financial assistance
One child per family receives a social skill training group preparing them for returning to school
Access to schools and school material
If needed medical assistance is provided
If needed legal assistance is provided
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment