Session 2: The Day I Will Never Forget
I had developed the task “The day I will never forget”
while in Zimbabwe, where it was useful in eliciting the
expression of trauma and grief. The children simply were
told, “Draw the day you will never forget. It can be any day
in your life. Draw what happened on this day. How did you
feel?” Instead of inviting the children to draw the tsunami
directly, this non-directive task empowered them by providing
a measure of control. For children whose lives had been
unpredictably turned upside down after the tsunami, this
task provided a framework and an opportunity for sharing
their trauma story but not mandating its expression. They
were free to draw a good day or bad one, focusing on one
day that stood out above all the others. For most Sri
Lankans, the day of the tsunami was one that could not be
forgotten. As in Zimbabwe, the children’s response to this
task was to pour out stories of grief and pain.