Mon Ami trauma troopers’ main focus is victim empowerment

Mon Ami (French for “my friend”) Trauma Troops is an NPO and community-based support group that offers emotional support to people affected by traumatic experiences.

The organisation emerged out of the community for the betterment of society and was officially established as an NPO in 2007.

Their main focus is victim empowerment, where they combine their strategy with emotional support.

Founding member, supervisor and social worker Jacques Botes said that the immediate emotional support after the person became a victim of a crime or a traumatic incident is crucial.

“When it comes to the community, we offer individual therapy, group therapy as well as debriefing.

“Moni Ami accepts the client’s values and approaches the client as a unique individual,” said Botes.

The team of about 20 people are currently providing victim empowerment services to police stations in Villieria, Moot, Brooklyn as well as parts of Centurion.

“All our social workers are fully trained to give the necessary assistance where needed.

“We allow the client to decide how he or she would like to handle any given situation. We try to verbalise their feelings on a one-on-one basis or in a group discussion. All situations are, however, treated as strictly confidential,” said Botes.

“We are a group dedicated to continuous improvement to benefit and engage the bigger community. The group is democratic and inclusive of ethical values to respect human life and the environment,” he said.

Mon Ami assists with the death of a loved one; house robberies or housebreakings; business robberies; family and friends after a loved one’s suicide; if a loved one was in a serious accident; if you or a loved one was hijacked as well if you or a loved one were a victim of a crime.

“A project that significantly stands out from last year is Domestic Workers Unite.

“We train domestic workers on how to deal with trauma after they were held up or where they were in a situation when a robbery took place at a home where they worked. We are consistently involved in projects of gender-based violence, and also domestic violence,” he said.

Botes added that since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, they had a massive increase in the abovementioned violence.

“We continuously supported the emergency services team at the stations where we are involved.

“We will continue with our Domestic Workers Unite project,” he said.

Mon Ami needs the hands and feet of the community to train volunteers.

“Financial donations as well as donations for our rape victims, are always welcome. Anyone who would like to contribute or get involved can contact the trauma line on 073 653 4497.”

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