Honors College - University of Maine

Work of the Honors College at the University of Maine in Haiti

Dr. Melissa Ladenheim, the Associate Dean of the Honor College at the University of Maine at Orono, recently shared information in an email to Maine Friends of Haiti about a project being undertaken in Haiti by students and faculty mentors in the Honors College at the University of Maine.

Dr. Ladenheim has been involved in this work since 2016. She shared a couple of links below that will provide some background on their endeavors.

The Attachment Theory Workshop, a 6-part training originally developed for caregivers in Sierra Leone taking care of children who have experienced trauma, is being adapted in partnership with Helping Haitian Angels to address the specific needs of children in Haiti who have experienced trauma. We are working closely with our community partner and their team in Haiti on making the training culturally specific and relevant.

Dr. Ladenheim shared that they know from their work in Sierra Leone that the training has a powerful impact on the caregivers' relationship with the children and has helped to foster healthy attachments by educating caregivers on how to become attuned to the special needs of these children and to encourage resilience through a focus on time, talk, and touch.

Dr. Melissa Ladenheim, melissa.ladenheim@maine.edu
Alli DellaMattera, allison.dellamattera@maine.edu

The links below are to two articles that give a background on the development and implementation of the Attachment Theory Workshop.

Link See Attachment Theory: helping vulnerable families become healthy and strong (pgs. 7-9).

Link See Servant Leadership & Educational Partnerships in Sierra Leone (pgs 6-8).