Counselling Intervention for Budo Community

            COUNSELLING INTERVENTIONnever experienced it ourselves. The pain and
FOR BUDO COMMUNITYbitterness of losing one’s life we cannot describe it
  The gruesome massacre by arson of 20 childrenbecause we have not gone through it. Death is still with
with the modal age of 10years in this century at Budous and it is tormenting us every moment of life, unlike
Junior School in Uganda on the 14th April 2008 isthe perished children who can no longer be tormented
unbelievable. Everybody should condemn this brutalityby death.
and be in solidarity with the most affected kin of the 
deceased.  It is only these young angels who will Because we are still alive and at the same time we
enlighten our mind to accept what they went through.lost our affinities that is where the agony lies. We lost
My prayer is that they bring quick and soothingour children, sisters, relatives, friends, schoolmates,
intervention to the relations they separated from.classmates etc.  This is a situation we are to live with
 which by all means has compromised our mental
Recently one high ranking personality in governmenthealth with consequences of trauma, depression,
said over one FM radio that he did not want to talkseparation anxiety disorder, attention deficit, panic,
about the Budo massacre for fear of refreshingobsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias and
wounds, agony of all those who are mourning theposttraumatic stress.  
beloved children. 
There could be countless others who might feelIt is also very likely for the pupil community and
tempted to keep mum for the same reason. I shouldespecially for the survivors to experience reactive
tell you that whether we keep silent or continue to talkbehaviour to the trauma reminders that can result into
about the Budo massacre it is not yet over. We shouldreckless behaviour or extreme avoidant behaviours
only brace ourselves to tackle what is yet to come. that are detrimental to their development as human
This brief reflection is an attempt to graciously buttressbeings. Of course each one will continue with life but
for the eventuality in connection with the Budo incident.the level of mental health functioning and impairment
 will depend on individual resiliency and intervention.  So
The demise of these young angels made meit is not yet over for us.  We need a lot of intervention
contemplate on two things that quite often are notto cope with this new sad experience. 
given their preeminence at a moment of loss. The 
Budo massacre denotes these two issues: the loss ofAmong the strategies to cope is the need to see
life and loss of persons/affinity. The majority of us arejustice expeditiously done according to our human
mourning these two aspects.standards. The state machinery has an important part
Significantly it is the children who suffered bothto play or else it aggravates the mental health
aspects, namely, the loss of life and the separationfunctioning of the affected kith and kin.  It should be
from their beloved ones. The rest of us sufferedseen to be on the side of the affected relations. Any
severed affinity.interpretation of apparent diversion from the
 anxiety-prone relations will perpetuate mental health
The loss of life came once and for all. It is only theillness with dire consequences.
perished young children who knew and who 
experienced what it means to lose life. However deathThere are evidence -based practices that can be
will never persist on them any more. Death has seensought to help cope with this debilitating situation. These
its end with the demise of these children.include: psychosocial, medication, counseling
In ending someone’s life like it happened at Budo,psychotherapy and preventive intervention.
there must be an exchange of some sort. The children 
lost their life to the murderers and unconsciously inAmong the psychosocial, the parents, relatives, all
exchange the children were handed a banner writtendifferent community agencies, associations, be at
on “NATURAL JUSTICE.” It is this banner thatvillage level, church etc, should come in and offer the
they are now flying in their new abode which isneeded company and presence to the afflicted. They
timeless and without space. It is this banner that mustcan come in to help face this phenomenon. They
take its due course. They are not going to avengeshould not create the impression that they are helping
their death because this is characteristic of humanone to forget the agony or sweep everything under
endeavour. But their new acquired responsibility is tocarpet but rather to assist in accepting the reality of
enable those who massacred them to have theseparation.
courage to meet the promptings of natural justice. 
 The parents of the survivors should watch very
If loss of life and affinities is sweet or bitter theclosely their children who would exhibit fright for no
murderers must embrace themselves to taste thisapparent reason. They might be developing recurrent,
recipe. Since in the children’s new abode, time andor re-experiencing of the event, through flashbacks,
space is immaterial, natural justice visiting those whonightmares or images. They might be avoiding any
organized, participated and carried out the massacrestimuli at home, which remind them of the event, e.g.,
will strike at its own convenience.  It can either takebeing in the house, fire or specific time when the
place within our time or outside it meaning that theincident happened.  Some might show increased signs
murderers or their dear ones at any moment ofof arousal, e.g., lack of sleep or easily irritated, change
human existence will not escape the full weight within cognitive behaviours, avoidance or any other signs.
interest.  This is the most absurd and 
incomprehensible full weight of natural justice. Consultations with mental health workers e.g a
 Those of us who would feel the temptation tocounselor, psychologists, psychiatrists is highly
avenge the lives of the dear children cannot do it torecommended for both parents and children. These
the satisfaction of those who are now open to allcan be very instrumental in the healing process.
reality, time and space.  The children are nowPrayer intervention is another efficacious therapy for
exposed to the full reality of the origin, planning,those who hold a strong reality of connectivity
execution and the aftermath of that sinister massacrebetween the earthly and the supernatural intervention
for which we mortals it is just a matter of speculation.in life.
So at the appropriate time natural justice will definitely 
catch up. The only favour the children could do for usThe children need to be talked to through our family
is to witness in our lifetime the execution of naturalintervention systems or even seek professional
justice. May be we may ask this from them.assistance.  The parents should not insist on where
 the child might continue with schooling.  They should
The second reality of the massacre is that parents,seriously talk about it before the new term starts.  In
relatives, and significant others lost persons or affinitiescase the child is very specific and concerned with
that existed with the children.  We never lost life astrauma reminders it is likely that this child may take long
the children did. We are still alive. We looked at loss ofto settle where those reminders are going to be part
life from an angle and from a distance because weand parcel of the daily environment.