Safe Haven

Safe Haven - The Project

SAFEHAVEN PROJECT This project has been in development for almost 2 years, and now it has become a reality. We have decided on Spain, for our project. Both because of the surroundings but also because of the climate. There is no doubt that a person’s life changes considerably, after a deployment in a hot zone. Everyone who has been in a “hot zone” experiences things that affect them mentally. In extreme concequences they can develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This condition can happen to any of us, no matter how many times we have been deployed, and often hits a person like lightning from a clear sky. It is our wish, that our guests shall return home as whole persons, without the costs of broken marriages, lost friendships, family issues, or in the extreme concequences that they simply “cut off the hand” of a society that does not understand. It is always difficult for persons who have returned home. To explain to the world, the experiences they have had. There are several reasons for this. It is often experiences that you want to try and suppress. You want to shield the people you love, from the harsh realities of the outside world, and last but not least. It is hard to acknowledge that maybe you have an issue yourself handeling the experiences you have had. It is important to underline, that we cannot cure PTSD, and we cannot diagnose PTSD either. What we can do is, to be assistants, to recognition, that maybe there is a need for professional help, and we can also facilitate collaboration with people who have experience in handeling PTSD. It is our experience, that the reaction often surfaces after a good while. It can be a sound or a smell, that starts the reaction for some, and for others it can come out of nowhere, like lightning from a clear sky. If it is to be easier for each individual to get help and accept that they have a problem. It is needed that they acknowledge, that no matter how tough you are, it will wear and tear the protective layer, you have towards your psyche, and that we are all vunerable. A fundamental change and attitude towards people is needed, so it becomes acceptable to be a living and vunerable human being with feelings. The general opinion regarding personel that are sent to a hot zone, is that they are immune to the things they see and experience. Since they have signed a contract, they are supposed to know what they are headed in to. No one can prepare others on what they will experience. They can be prepared as good as possible, but even then people react differently to their experiences. For some it is about guilt and blame, if they have survived and their comrades haven’t. For others, if they have had to discharge their weapons against other people, to survive or protect others. Not all families understand this guilt. More and more often it results in divorces and broken up relationships. It can be extremely hard for the relatives, to comprehend where all this guilt comes from. The enjoyable family get-together can suddenly end in chaos, if a sound or smell results in the person experiencing a return to the “zone” they left. For that reason, it is extremely important, that we do not forget the families, to the ones who are returning home. If they are to have a chance to understand what happened to their beloved son, husband, brother, sister, wife or daughter, it is imperiative that they are also a part of this process. There are of course certain things they will never know, but if they can get an insight in what happens to the psyche and the person who has been deployed, then we are a good step closer. If this takes place in a, for the persons involved, safe and secure environment. Then they are a step closer to return home to a “normal” everyday life, with their families and loved ones. Our goal at safe haven is that they have the opportunity to regain their self-worth and self-esteem. So they can re-enter society and find their place again, and at the same time, be able to unload some of the issues that burdens them, or at the very least have them put into perspective. When they are getting to a point, where they can control what is happening with them, we offer the possibility that they can have their family come down (wife/husband. girlfriend/boyfriend). It is our goal to offer our guests, some tools that can help them on with their lives, to create an understanding of the immediate meaningless, where the contrast from chaos, to picking up kids in kindergarten can be hard to grasp. Since all our guests are individuals, it will not be possible to make a general program that covers everyone’s needs. Therefore individual talks will build a base for how things will progress.