Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
January/February 2006

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A lifeline for torture survivors

by Geoffrey Archer

Kali is a young woman from the Ivory Coast. Since 2002 her home country has been torn apart by strife. When Kali took a peaceful stand against the oppressive regime under which she lived, it led to her being imprisoned and savagely beaten. She suffered a miscarriage. Over the weeks that followed she was repeatedly raped and beaten by prison guards. Eventually she was freed and managed to flee to Britain in a highly traumatised state. Here she was in danger of sinking without trace in an alien community that had no understanding of the horrors some other countries inflict on their citizens. That she survived and was helped to recovery was almost entirely thanks to the Medical Foundation, a major British charity that cares for victims of torture and institutionalised violence.

The organization was founded 20 years ago by Helen Bamber, a charismatic woman now aged 80, who as a 20-year-old went to Belsen concentration camp at the end of WW2 to help care for survivors of the Holocaust. When she started the Medical Foundation in 1985, after working for Amnesty International, some of her first clients were Britons imprisoned by the Japanese, who were still suffering the after effects of their maltreatment. One of them was Eric Lomax, who wrote The Railway Man, a moving, bestselling account of his WW2 imprisonment. Since then the organization has expanded in response to a depressingly growing need. More than 40,000 torture survivors have been helped since the Medical Foundation's inception. They've come from around 90 different countries, most arriving in Britain as refugees. The Foundation now has a full and part time staff of more than 100 doctors and therapists, supported by a similar number of volunteers. In addition to a purpose-built London headquarters, they've opened additional centres in Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle in response to the government's dispersal programme for asylum-seekers.

My own interest in the Medical Foundation's work began when I was a correspondent for ITN's News at Ten. I'd reported from a number of countries where appalling inhumanity was the norm. When I learned about the Foundation's remarkable work to repair some of the terrible human damage I'd witnessed, I donated some money. Then, about 8 years ago the organization's regular supporters were bunched into local sections in an effort to raise awareness of the charity's work. About 30 of us came together to form the South West London Supporters group, which I now chair. Group members have made several visits to Medical Foundation headquarters and been inspired by the counsellors and therapists who do such remarkable work there. Our main activity is fundraising. We have staged very successful 'Words and Music' evenings and Quiz nights, all of them in the Kew area and have generated around £15,000 towards the Medical Foundation's running costs. We are currently planning an art raffle for 2006 and would welcome donations of desirable paintings.

Members of our supporters' group are spread widely, from Putney to Kingston and beyond. We would welcome more from the Barnes area, so if any readers feel like joining our lively and enthusiastic group please contact our secretary Brenda Peover on 020 8940 5574. Or email: bp@melrose.globalnet.co.uk.

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