I realize that it has been some time since I confirmed this to you, so I would like to take the time now to say that I am still passionately pursuing my dream to open a domestic violence shelter in Cochabamba, Bolivia! In everything I do this is my primary focus; whether I am in hot yoga and repeating this as my mantra, or learning about new alternative therapies and techniques to combat the fight against domestic violence, I am constantly thinking about how I can apply new knowledge and research to the cause. To this end, in October and November I traveled back to Bolivia and was blessed to add up a total of over fifty meetings with individuals and organizations over the past year, half of which were conducted in the United States and the other half in Bolivia. In February, I attended the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV) national conference and was blessed with the opportunity to learn more about dating violence, ads and their role in domestic and sexual violence, violence prevention strategies at the community level, and some of the presentations that I attended provided helpful handouts per below: Can We Ever Be Culturally Competent? Comprehensive Prevention Programming Development and Implementation Community Mobilization for Violence Prevention Shared Risk & Protection: Prevention Where Violence Intersects Violence Prevention and Victim Advocacy Services on College Campuses Preventing Sexual Violence Through Environmental Design How to Use Data to Inform Prevention Practices Teen Dating Violence Prevention For additional handouts and resources from the KCSDV conference, please see this link. More recently, I joined the board of directors for Thrive ICT, which seeks to "connect trauma survivors to services and resources to heal their minds and bodies so that they can transcend their pasts and build thriving lives." In addition to other services provided by Thrive ICT, the organization offers monthly social gatherings and clinical support groups to survivors of PTSD, most commonly victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. I have also committed to supporting BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse), and have begun the training process to eventually be able to support a child as a sponsor through the full emotional and legal process when their case goes to trial. In addition, I have joined an editing group for a book that I have written on the brain and how it is impacted by external sources: especially trauma, food, exercise, sleep, emotional health and well-being, and healthy social connections. My hope, as with all of my endeavors, is to use this knowledge to help support victims and survivors of domestic violence to live a more holistic and healthy lifestyle, from the inside out. I hope that you will continue to follow me on this journey, at times long and winding, until I am eventually back in Bolivia with my friends and family there and my dream of opening a domestic violence shelter has become a reality!
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AuthorValerie Ellis, who is in alignment with the Black Lives Matter Movement and everyone whose life is impacted, now or before, by times of social injustice. Archives
July 2022
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