South Sudan: Working through trauma

In August, DW Akademie trainer Helena Ferro de Gouveia conducted a workshop for South Sudanese journalists in Juba, the country's capital. One of the workshop's focuses was dealing with trauma, and although Ferro de Gouveia had worked in conflict zones before, she found this workshop particularly challenging.

Ms Ferro de Gouveia, how difficult is the situation currently for journalists in South Sudan.
It's extremely difficult. Many of the journalists face threats and a journalist was murdered while we were staying in the capital. The South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mayardit inflames the situation by saying things such as journalists who don't play by the rules put themselves in danger. That's a direct quote although he did later backpedal slightly. There are also a number of taboo topics in South Sudan that journalists just don't write about, such as internally displaced persons.

Can journalists work in an environment that's so dominated by fear?

South Sudanese radio journalists attending the workshop on trauma

Yes, they can and they do. After the latest killing, journalists in South Sudan voted to strike, and no news was broadcast across the country for 24 hours except by the state channel, SSR (South Sudanese Radio). But for media organizations to come together to strike is a courageous act.

Journalists attending your workshop came from SSR and the Catholic station, Bakhita FM. The workshop focused in part on the trauma these journalists had experienced themselves. Is it safe to do a workshop like this in South Sudan?
Things are often tense in Juba and tanks are everywhere. And in the interior of the country, there are constant skirmishes between rebels and state troops. This indirectly affected our work. For example, we were careful not to touch on political topics because we knew that if we did, we would endanger ourselves and also our participants – we wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Eight women and three men took part in the workshop; all have experienced war and are suffering the effects. What personal experiences did they talk about?

Playing on the streets of Juba: Living quarters for entire families are often no larger than 10 square meters

Terrible ones – everything from floggings to rape. One participant said she'd received 20 lashes when she was in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Some told us that they had to step over corpses lying in the streets, while others said they had been separated from their children and hadn't heard from them for days. Participants spoke about almost all of the horrors of war imaginable.

How does a workshop like this help?
This workshop had two parts – how to deal with trauma and learning new journalism skills. We had a special focus on conflict-sensitive reporting so that the journalists and their organizations can contribute to conflict deescalation. Take interview techniques, for example: we first looked at conducting an interview under normal circumstances, and then looked at conducting an interview with someone who has been traumatized. We also had a therapist working with us and the participants were very open. You see, if someone has experienced a trauma, the first step is for the person to realize that he or she has been traumatized. It's important to break the silence because those who've had a traumatic experience generally don't talk about it because they often feel a sense of guilt or shame.

Can you talk of 'successes' in such a workshop?

Participant Mario Suleiman receives the workshop certificate from DW Akademie trainer Helena Ferro de Gouveia (right)

I think being able to break the silence and speak openly about it in a group setting is a success in itself. While it's clear that a trauma will always be a part of that person's life, there are ways to overcome it or be better equipped to able to deal with it. This is important because it stabilizes a person, but it's especially important for journalists because this way their work isn't overshadowed by their own traumatic experiences. The eleven journalists attending the workshop have all found ways to live with their experiences. One participant, for example, is now producing radio dramas that deal with the issue of trauma.

How great is the need for overcoming trauma in South Sudan?
There's a huge need. I can't give you the numbers but this is the reality: South Sudan, if you include the time when it was still a part of Sudan, has gone through 42 years of civil war. Two million people are currently displaced inside their own country. So the need is great. And although it's not only journalists who have been traumatized, they are the ones who can bring a greater awareness of the topic.