No Time for Therapy

In the moving Strength in What Remains, author Tracy Kidder traces the journey of Deo, who flees genocide in Burundi only to find a fresh set of challenges in New York City. He is primarily occupied with survival from day to day, with virtually no one to talk to in his own language.

But then there’s the other challenge – the way that genocide won’t let him go, even from halfway around the globe. He still endures the post-traumatic stress of the horrors he has experienced, and the loss of all he’s let go of – and for lack of communication, his cannot help assuming sometimes that his entire family is dead.

I’m teaching the book in Creative Nonfiction this week, which made this article in today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette that much more striking. It concerns how Syrian refugees, and those who help them, are dealing with similar troubles now – how to deal not only with the need for housing, jobs, and physical well-being, but the mental health needs of people who have endured so much just to get here. It’s another reminder of what we can all do in our own communities to help all refugees. Programs such as African Community Education, Worcester Refugee Assistance Project, and many others provide bountiful opportunities to help refugees and other immigrants.