More than 143 million children across the globe have experienced the trauma of the death of a parent. Millions more have suffered through abandonment by both parents. Traumatic events in childhood shape a child for the rest of his or her life – negatively if the child does not receive care to mitigate the damaging impacts of these events.
Effects of Childhood Trauma Among Orphans
Traumatic events have a great impact on the anxiety felt by orphaned children and contributes to emotional and behavioral difficulties as exposure increases. This childhood exposure as been linked to anxiety, depression, and antisocial behavior patterns that continue into adulthood.
According to a 2011 study by the Positive Outcomes for Orphans research team of 1,480 orphaned and abandoned children ages six to 12 throughout 50 sampling areas, nearly all children (98%) have experienced one or more potentially traumatic events beyond the death of a parent or abandonment. Fifty-five percent of children have experienced four or more traumatic events.
Without competent trauma care, exposure to traumatic events in childhood affects a child’s ability to grow into a productive member of society later in life. Caring for the emotional safety of a child is beneficial just as caring for the child’s physical needs.
Trauma Competent Care for Orphans
Back 2 Back Ministries is working diligently to deliver much-needed trauma competent care to orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide. Working with Texas Christian University’s Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development, Back 2 Back Ministries provides trauma competent care training, giving caregivers the tools needed to make a difference in the lives of children in need.
Trauma competent care trainees learn the complexities of the needs of children who have suffered traumas in their lives. By understanding the impacts of trauma, caregivers best learn to utilize their training to assist children in ways that will help them grow positively, without the weight of these burdens.
Trauma competent care includes:
- Maximizing the sense of safety a child feels
- Helping the child reduce and modify overwhelming emotions while building connections
- Promoting positive relationships, both old and new
- Helping the child develop a strength-based comprehension of their own life
PHILANTHRO Fund Trauma Competent Care
PHILANTHRO proudly supports the much-needed care delivered by Back 2 Back Ministries, providing direct funds to support their trauma competent care training program and outreach. Ten percent of all PHILANTHRO brand furnace filter sales is donated to Back 2 Back Ministries.
You can support orphaned and vulnerable children across the globe, giving them access to the trauma competent care they so greatly need. Switch to PHILANTHRO furnace filters in your home, and generate funding for this critical program.
Learn more about PHILANTHRO brand furnace filters and the PHILANTHRO mission by visiting www.philanthro.com.
