Voices of rehabilitation

From shell to seed to flower

The member centres and programmes of the IRCT carry out their work with this basic premise in mind: there is life after torture.

Here, some of the beneficiaries of services at IRCT member centres describe how rehabilitation transformed their experience of pain and trauma into hope for a better future:

My nose was broken and I was stabbed with a knife in my forehead. I was forced to undress, tied with a rope and tortured…When I woke up, I was in a refugee camp in Macedonia. Sometimes I would find myself crying and two seconds later, I would start laughing. I went to the doctor, because I could see that something was wrong with me. After the torture I was walking sleepless around the house. In nightmares I recalled the beatings and the torture. I still have headaches, but thanks to the treatment I sleep all night and I do not easily get scared as I used to.”
 - Kosovar man who received treatment at the Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims 

“I have come from a shell to a seed and from a seed to a small flower. PTV saved my life.”
 - Congolese woman treated at the Program for Torture Victims (USA)

“I still wonder what type of human beings they were who brutally tortured me and many others, pushing me to the lowest level of humanity. I really felt anger, frustration, and many times I felt like either killing myself or killing someone else. I even had a very abusive attitude towards my family, which gives me the feeling of guilt. But after the therapeutic treatment at the rehabilitation centre, I can now manage my anger to some extent. My quality of life has improved with a much better atmosphere at home as a result. I am now very confident that I can manage different relationships in my life, both at home and at my work place.”
 - Afghan refugee and beneficiary of services at the Pakistani centre SACH – Struggle for Change

“I used to think only in negatives. I used to be able to look only at the bad things that had happened. When I came here to Foundation House and saw the psychiatrist and the natural therapist they did such a great job. These two people working together helped me so much.”
 - Iraqi woman treated at Foundation House in Australia