PAST PROJECT
When violence erupted in Tigray, Ethiopia in 2020, thousands of Eritrean refugees living in camps where CVT had clinics, along with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and some CVT staff, relocated to the Alemwach camp in Amhara in order to escape the armed conflict. This was a difficult journey and a difficult time, and many people experienced violence and deeply traumatic experiences as they made the move. Former clients reported experiencing re-traumatization, so the CVT Ethiopia team knew that the need for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for people who were arriving to the camp was very high.
The CVT Ethiopia team opened a clinic in Dabat to bring trauma-informed counseling and physiotherapy to people. CVT staff began spreading the word within the refugee community to raise awareness of the symptoms people experience after trauma, and about the care that CVT provides, as well as administering psychological first aid to people who were in crisis. By mid-January 2023, the team at the new CVT Dabat center was providing intensive mental health counseling and physiotherapy to clients in group sessions.
The project in Amhara was successful, but the funder had budget cuts that required the first clinic to close. The team made a pivot to move to a new location and had begun work to begin sessions with clients, However, in late January 2025, the U.S. government pulled its funding for humanitarian work and CVT was forced to close the center.
