Afghanistan has been in a constant state of war for over 30 years, with no end in sight. Few Afghans today remember life before the war. This has implications for programmes designed to reduce war trauma and rebuild community connections, in order to foster peace and reconciliation. This paper describes efforts, rooted in local culture, to impact community mental health through promoting positive coping strategies for the prevention of, and care for, psychosocial problems. In 2002, the author, in collaboration with teacher trainers in the International Rescue Committee's Female Education Programme, developed a project for psychosocial wellness training for teachers at schools in Pakistan, for Afghan refugee girls. The project targeted psychosocial distress and trauma recovery for the teachers, their families and their students, using a community approach adapted from a positive deviance model. This model allows that local solutions may exist, but be unrecognised. Four modules were found to be particularly helpful to participants: 1) exploring resiliency; 2) focusing; 3) what is normal; and 4) the balance of blessings. The project was well received and proved helpful when it was adapted for use in Afghanistan.

This field report describes the activities of a local, nongovernmental organisation attempting to strengthen the system of psychosocial support available in schools in North Ossetia, Russia. This semi autonomous republic in the Russian Federation has been plagued by terrorism and the influx of internally displaced and refugee children. The activities described aim to address the mental health needs of the children, their families and caregivers, and foster healthy psychosocial development within the school system.

Residents, living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, are almost daily confronted with drug related violence. Similarly, local social educators working with children and young adults in these slums, also frequently live amidst this extreme violence. However, while this gives them a thorough understanding of the needs of the people they work with, it may also sometimes interfere with their ability to assist others, and they may sometimes be in need of support themselves. A local nongovernmental organisation has started developing a training for these social educators, in order to assist them to better understand their own coping strategies, as well as how these strategies influence their daily work with traumatised children and young adults.

After military officers deposed the president of Mali in March 2012, rebels seized control of the northern parts of the country, and declared independence. The resulting political instability and insecurity in northern Mali has led to mass displacement of the population to the southern parts of the country. Local and international agencies have agreed to work together to develop a coherent and pragmatic psychosocial response to the crisis. Since June 2012, a group of Malian psychosocial professionals meet regularly to coordinate this immediate response. They have established a psychosocial task force, started to map and organise activities to assist affected people, and to strengthen the local capacity of other helpers. The authors highlight the importance of building on local expertise in order to develop appropriate and sustainable mental health and psychosocial support services in response the current crisis in Mali.

The author, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was trained to teach children with special needs. In this personal reflection, she describes how due to the violence in her home country, she became a refugee in Tanzania, twice. She describes the suffering she has faced, including the death of her own children, and her experiences of sexual violence. In the refugee camp of Nyarugusu in Tanzania, she became involved in psychosocial work and learnt the power of working within the community. She has recently resettled in the United Kingdom, and hopes that her experiences can now be of use in her new home country.

In 2006, the author was studying for her MA degree in English, in Baghdad. A married Iraqi woman, she was kidnapped along with her husband. She was released after eight days, but her husband was killed. In this personal reflection, she describes her own profound grief and how she found meaning in life once again while working with the International Organization for Migration. This intergovernmental organisation gave her the opportunity to provide support to other Iraqi widows. Now, as a coordinator of a project for the empowerment of female and youth headed households, she offers both practical and emotional support.

The author of this personal reflection is a junior doctor from Somaliland, a country that has suffered from civil war. He studied medicine there, and became interested in mental health care. This aspect of heath care is among the most neglected in the horn of Africa. However, with the support of British psychiatrists, the author has established educational training in psychiatry. He has also subsequently initiated mental health services in his hometown of Borama. Within a few years, an inpatient psychiatric unit, an outpatient department and community mental health outreach were also created. Key to his success was intensive cooperation and collaboration with the community, resulting in broad support for mental health programmes. He has also attempted to collaborate with traditional healers, but remains hesitant of their role.

Afganistán ha estado en un constante estado de guerra durante más de 30 años, sin un fi - nal a la vista. Pocos afganos hoy recuerdan la vida antes de la guerra. Lo anterior tiene implicaciones para los programas diseñados para reducir el trauma generado por la guerra y reconstruir relaciones en la comunidad, con el fi n de fomentar la paz y la reconciliación. Este documento describe los esfuerzos, arraigados en la cultura local, para generar un impacto en la salud mental de la comunidad mediante la promoción de estrategias positivas de afrontamiento entorno a la prevención y la atención. En el año 2002, la autora, en colaboración con formadores de docentes pertenecientes al Programa de Educación de la Mujer del Comité Internacional de Rescate (International Rescue Committee’s Female Education Programme), han desarrollado un proyecto para la formación en bienestar psicosocial para maestros en las escuelas de Pakistán, trabajando con niñas refugiadas afganas. El proyecto se centró en el malestar psicosocial y recuperación a partir del trauma para los maestros, sus familias y sus alumnas, utilizando un enfoque comunitario adaptado de un modelo de desviación positiva (positive deviance en inglés). Este modelo recalca que las soluciones locales pueden existir, a pesar de no ser reconocidas como tal. Cuatro módulos resultaron ser particularmente útiles para los participantes: 1) explorar la resiliencia, 2) focusing , 3) lo que es normal, y 4) considerando las bendiciones. El proyecto fue bien recibido y demostró ser útil cuando se adaptó para su uso en Afganistán.