The Hague, 12 October 2019 by BYAustin
Almost 35 people made up of supporters, sponsors and experts in the field of social work, psychiatry and more joined Esther Dankwah, director of Dankwah Foundation for Recover your Strength! On Saturday the 12th of October; an interactive seminar on how to solve the issue of silence surrounding abuse girls and boys.
Turning pain into power
Esther shared her personal and painful experiences with abuse and her motivation for this specific theme. She emphasized how important it is that people who are seeking help feel like they are considered as ‘real’ people rather than a number within a social project provided by the governments.
“I always draw my power from running and I always get myself back on track”
Esther Dankwah, Founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation
The athlete shed light on how discussing her experiences with her parents helped her to heal on the long run. “Each and every one of you has the power to heal from this”, she shared. Esther revealed that her parents didn’t have a clue about what she went through and they were shocked to hear about her story years after.
When healing started
“Sports helped me take on the challenge to move on. What others don’t do; I do. We need to take on the courage for our next healing stage, such as finding supportive friends who will help you to look at life beyond your problems so that you can move on.” She also shared how she dealt with side effects such as anger. Track running was her way of escape.
“Deal with it and smell the fresh air”
Esther Dankwah, Founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation
Having talked with the audience and professionals in the field of health, social work and psychiatry, the audience gained a good perspective on where some of the solutions to breaking the silence within multicultural communities as well as the wider Dutch society lie. The majority agreed that one of the starting points is uunderstanding cultural differences.
The event
Recover your Strength! is initiated by Dankwah Foundation, sponsored by Elgon Collection (a flower handling and distribution company that provides flowers from Kenya).
Esther Dankwah Foundation is the collective name of Stichting Dankwah Street & Sports Academy (based in the Netherlands) & Dankwah Street Academy Foundation (based in Ghana).
