Revised Edition 11/20/2016
I took one class in children’s counseling which was play therapy. So when I was asked to give play therapy sessions at Lesotho Save the Children it literally took the Holy Spirit in me to say, “yes”. I’ve had the degree since May 2014 but didn’t use it until August 2016 in Maseru, Lesotho during our first month on the World Race.
Play Room:
The play room is gorgeous and when the psychologist on staff took me in I felt like I had walked into Toys’R’Us.
So as quickly as I could, I trained her and then brought in the first kid. She told him, “You have 30 minutes to play. You can play with anything you want however
you want. When you have 5 minutes left I’ll let you know so that you can start putting everything away just how you found it.”
When each kid entered they were literally mesmerized to be in a play room all by themselves. The room had 2 huge wooden book shelves that were full of toys for
every age, a giant sandbox full of sand and sand toys, a coloring station, and giant blown up clowns for hitting.
Sessions:
His story: (7 years of age)
His mother and older sister were having a heated discussion. The sister asked him (6 years) to grab a knife and to bring it to her. He being an innocent little
boy brought her the knife. She took the knife and stabbed the mother to death right in front of her little brother.
His sessions:
1. He came in and his eyes lit up to see a room full of so many toys that he was going to be able to play with by himself. The psychologist told him the rules and he
began to play. He quickly got out the train tracks and a train and built a road.
She asked him, “Where is that road leading to?”
Him: “(Name of birth town)”
Then he started building another road.
She asked him, “What about this road where is it leading to?”
Him: “To Johannesburg to visit my big brother.”
2. He came in and remembered the rules from the previous session. He went straight to play but this time he got a fast car and started zooming it around the carpet.
She asked him, “Do you like fast cars?”
Him: “Yes, I want to buy one.”
She asked him, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Him: “I want to be a police officer.”
She asked him, “Why do you want to be a police officer?”
Him: “I want to drive in a fast car and put all the bad people in jail.”
His story: (4 years of age)
His mother died as soon as they came home from the hospital. He was still breast feeding off of her lifeless body. He was brought to Lesotho Save the Children as
a tiny baby. His father didn’t want anything to do with the child.
His session:
1. The psychologist told him the rules and he began to play. He stood in front of the wooden shelves full of toys for a bit. It’s as if he was searching for the right
toys. He’s 4 years old and very tiny in size so you can just imagine how massive these wooden structures were before him. He finally saw something that caught his eyes
it was the train tracks and the trains. He quickly started building a road.
She asked him, “Where is this road leading to?”
Him: “Name of birth town”
She asked him, “Who would you like to see there?”
Him: silence
He was quiet most of the session. The psychologist asked him a few more questions but he would just shrug his shoulders.
His story: (7 years of age)
His parents abandoned him and his younger brother in an empty home. They left them there with nothing. He went into survivor mode for his younger brother and himself.
He would dig up frogs and catch little birds for his brother and himself to eat. People soon noticed that there were two little boys in this abandoned house and called
the authorities. The boys were taken to the home.
His session:
1. The psychologist told him the rules and he began to play. He went straight to the wooden shelves and started taking all kinds of toys down. He brought down
play food. He played with it fast. Then he quickly put it up. He got down the play money. He took out the bills and noticed it wasn’t currency he was used to seeing.
He quickly put it up. Then he saw the train tracks and brought them down. He started assembling a long railroad track.
She asked him, “Where is this road leading to?”
Him: “Around here”
She asked him, “Around Lesotho Save the Children?”
Him: “Yes”
He put the train on the railroad tracks laid on the floor and slowly dragged the train along the tracks.
Her story: (14 years of age)
Her parents died and her grandmother took her into her home. Her uncle was still living at her grandmother’s house at the time. She was raped by her uncle when she
was eleven years old. The cops were notified and she went to live at Lesotho Save the Children.
Her session:
1. The psychologist told her the rules. She stood in front of the wooden shelves and took down the railroad tracks. She laid them down on the carpet and began to put them
together.
She asked her, “Where is this road leading to?”
Her: “My parents house”
The she put up the railroad tracks and the train. She started getting all the plastic animals down. It was about 50 small plastic animals from different habitats.
She also got down all the plastic trees. They were all different types of trees.
She started putting the trees in two columns. She put the animals in between the columns of trees. In front of all the animals she put one soldier.
She asked her, “Why did you put the trees there?”
Her: “They look like the trees back home”
She asked her, “What is that soldier doing in front of all the animals?”
Her: “He is protecting them so that no one will hurt them?”
She asked her, “Do you feel safe here at Lesotho Save the Children?”
Her: with a big smile, “Yes”
She asked her, “Has there been a place where you didn’t feel safe?”
Her: “At my grandma’s house. She would always hit me and yell at me if I told her I was hungry and wanted more food.”
She asked her, “What about here at the home do you get enough food?”
Her: with a big smile, “Yes I get more than enough.”
At the end of each session I would pray thanking the Holy Spirit for His guidance through the sessions. I thanked Him for the questions at the correct times during
the play sessions. It had been over 2 years since I had any type of child play training. But He let me know that He’s the Great Counselor.
Sessions end.
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The psychologist and I went back to the office and discussed what happened in every session and how it lines up with their stories. I kept training her and telling her
what she could do in the next sessions which would now be without me.
Then she looked at me and said, “ok Celenne now I can tell you my story.”
She shared how she has been married for 8 years but that for the past 3 years her husband and her live together as if they are strangers. They don’t speak to
one another. They’re only together for the sake of their kid and society’s standards.
The look she had on her face was of a tired individual.
She looked at me and said, “I can’t do this anymore.”
I looked at her and said, “I’m going to talk to you from one believer to another believer.” And I smiled.
She looked at me with a smile and said, “Ok”
I told her, “challenge God and give Him a deadline to do something in your marriage and until that day you serve your husband like never before. Show him the love
of Christ.”
I prayed over her.
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March 2013 I enrolled into my first graduate courses. I had felt Jesus tugging at my heart for some months already to get a degree in counseling. I thought how it’d be cool to help others through traumatic events, grief, emotional situations, and life in general. For 13 long months I sat in 15 classes and realized that EVERY class was for ME! God used every class to counsel every wound in my own heart. In October 2015 I found out about the World Race and Jesus whispered one word, “GO”. Weeks before leaving America God told me, “everything that you went through you’re going to be able to counsel others that are currently going through the same thing. You’re going to be able to love them through their hurt because you know exactly what it feels like.
I left America not really knowing what I was going to encounter over the next 11 months. Up until now I hadn’t done any counseling with my degree. I honestly never thought I’d use it in Africa, but that is what happens when you leave everything in the Master’s hands.
