Services
The organisation offers a wide range of ‘therapies’ of various kinds, including home visits for the ‘shut-ins’, counselling, befriending, social events (to break feelings of isolation and to establish a sense of belonging to the community), craft classes (to stimulate creativity and provide an oasis for the confined), historical and political awareness classes (to provide members with an understanding of who they are and where they came from); we are currently running a range of computer classes starting at beginners level and proceeding to ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence). While training is an important aspect of our work, it has a narrow beneficiary base of less than 150 people. The other 2000 people involved in the group are left with nothing. That is why funding for our outreach workers is so vital.
WTV has tried to bring about a level of closure for the victims, by pursuing human rights and justice issues. It has also organised events that took the members into the Irish Republic (the first time in 30 years for many of them), where they have met with people from across the border and in a cross-community context. Members have also been actively engaged in dialogue meetings with people from across the religious and political divides in N. Ireland, in an attempt to understand where others are coming from, and to give them the opportunity to learn where we are coming from in our experience. The group gave people the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time in their lives, by organising group holidays to Portugal and Greece, and to experience a different culture, language, climate and lifestyle.
STAFF
We have four members of staff at present, as well as members who give of their free time voluntarily, including the 16 Committee Members. They are: Hazlett, Project Co-ordinator; Stephanie, Administrator; Ken, Outreach Worker; Gary, Training & Education Officer.
Our services are funded by various bodies and agencies, including the Core Funding Scheme through the Community Relations Council, and the European 'Peace II' funding (Special European Union Programmes Body), through the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Strabane Local Strategy Partnership, Omagh Local Strategy Partnership and EGSA. We have also been awarded funding from the Irish Government's Department of Foreign Affairs for our cross-border reconciliation work.
TRAUMA AND COLON DISEASE
In our world today, we live with news broadcasts of one traumatic event after another. People are left in shock, with their body barely able to recover. Trauma is another word for 'shock.' The body system suffers, its resources depleted, and its protection against disease drastically reduced. One disease that is closely related to trauma and stress is IBS, or colon disease.
When bombs go off without warning, people are killed or left seriously injured. When a shooting takes place on a university campus, students and staff are devastated. An airplane crashes, bursts into flame, and the inferno leaves survivors with a nightmarish existence.
What has come to these people is outside normal human experience. They cannot handle these intrusions into their lives, and their body's resources are taxed beyond the point of ability. Their immunity drops, and they are left open to disease of all kinds. Colon disease may well follow such horrific experiences.
The body's ability to correct itself has suffered a serious blow. While having normal experiences, it can release the antibodies that will conquer and destroy the invaders; but when trauma strikes and the body experiences shock, its defense reserves are so depleted that it simply cannot recover.
Trauma, then, does not come on its own; nor does it come without leaving its mark behind. One of those marks is colon disease. This suggests that it is very important that we look after our colon's health, and pay real attention to how it is working. This is one of the organs that we tend to neglect, and when neglected, the colon will not operate as it was designed to. Its purpose is to eliminate the body's waste on a regular basis and with regular frequency. When ill-health visits, the colon does not do what it was put there to do. Thus, when a traumatic event arrives, the conditions have been created that will multiply our health problems.
Looking after your colon is, therefore, a priority. And one of the ways we can do this is by getting as well informed about its health as we possibly can. And the effort we expend on this will pay rich dividends. If you do not look after your own health, don't expect others to do it for you!
Further information may be found at http://www.FirstQualityEbook.com - where you will find an excellent Guide to Colon Cleansing, giving you the pros and cons of many different colon cleansing methods, some of which are intrusive while others are not. Visit this site and then follow the instructions. This is information you cannot afford to miss.
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