Listen In -- Human Interest Stories

The "Owl and Panther" project, funded by the Hopi Foundation, takes on the problems that are unique to children of torture survivors. Some refugees have come to the United States to get away from torture. Their children are not used to a new country and have trouble telling others about what they lived through. Marge Pellegrino tells us how they use different forms of art to treat the trauma of growing up with torture in their family. Parents escaping Central America started bringing their children to this program in 1995 and now they serve communities from around the world including Somalia, Nepal and Bhutan. The National Coalition of Arts Therapies reports that psychiatric patients have been noted throughout history to have an almost irresistible urge to create art. They consider art therapy as an effective treatment for mental health, rehabilitation and education. It is based on the assumption that visual symbols and images are the most accessible and natural form of communication to the human experience.