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Day 2 . Life is turned upside down ( continued )
SAID ALOUD
Aim . To take the story forward , making sure that everyone understands its metaphor in the same terms .
Trainer . I will now continue the story . Remember to note what happens to the Woman ’ s thoughts , feelings , breathing , body and heart !
Then something happened that turned life upside down . It was not an earthquake , wind or fire . War came to the country and threw the villagers and their communities into fear and chaos . People were killed , many fled . She heard that old and young women , even children , had been raped . Life became unpredictable and difficult to handle . She tried not to think so much . She did not smile so often or giggle as before . Her man became angry more often . She did not sleep so well and prayed for peace .
PART II : THE TRAINING
Can you recognise your own reactions when you hear about these changes in the Woman ’ s behaviour ?
One morning she went down to the river . Some soldiers found her there . She was filling containers with water . After that day , everything changed .
At first she tried to flee , but she could not escape . The soldiers laughed when they caught her and threw her down in the dust of the riverbank .
Then she tried to fight them . Her heart pumped in her chest , the face became warm , her arms were stronger than ever before . But they were four big men and they were even more brutal when she tried to fight back – hitting , biting , kicking , scratching and screaming for help . Their laughter rang in her ears . The smell of their bodies scared her heart to silence .
Her legs became as if dead , her hands and arms too . Her face became pale and it was as though she had lost all her spirit . She heard the sound of the river and the breath of the soldiers . She lost her sight for a moment . It was as if she had left her body or was hiding in her heart , looking at the soldiers from a distance , watching them do bad things to her . She saw it like a scene in a film , she did not feel anything . It was as if the men were hurting a stranger , though she knew she was the person being hurt .
Exercise 5 . Identifying trauma reactions . ( 10 minutes .)
EXERCISE
When the soldiers attacked the Butterfly Woman , what happened in her thoughts ? In her heart ? To her feelings ? To her breathing and to her body ? How did she react in order to survive ?
Name the different responses of the Butterfly Woman .
Have you come across such reactions or feelings in other survivors ? What other reactions have you seen or heard about from the women and children you have talked to and who have been victims of rape or other traumatic events ?
Trainer . Thank you . Now take a deep breath !