For over a decade, every Saturday morning between April and October two people have met at Heathrow airport bound for a two week stay in Sarajevo.

They are volunteers who may or may not know each other - their connection is their membership of Healing Hands Network, a charity born in response to the atrocities of the Bosnian war. Healing Hands Network (HHN) was begun in 1996 after co-founder Vicki Poole, a Bowen Technique practitioner, was moved to do more following a visit to Sarajevo. Soon fellow therapists joined her and in 1997 the charity was formed.

Therapists who visited soon after the war's end sought to help Sarajevans who had suffered physical and emotional trauma: rape and torture, the loss of home and family, of limbs, or landmine injuries.
The healers, armed with their individual therapeutic training, wet wipes and tea tree oil, were welcomed by grateful over stretched doctors and nurses at Kosovo Hospital who were desperate for any help they could get. Gradually word of these groups of visiting therapists spread and people came to receive treatments from a diverse range of practitioners including those giving physiotherapy, Reflexology, massage, Reiki and acupuncture. Treatments were often given in bombed out buildings, the city was without gas for cooking or heating. Rationed water flowed for about 15 minutes a day and electricity was only switched on intermittently for short periods making work for the therapists in the bitter winter months especially challenging.

Rolling forth from the original band of therapists, a continuous flow of wonderful healers has continued to grow and expand the original concept of HHN. Today around 25,000 voluntary treatments have been given with up to 3,000 treatments being given each year.

Four or five therapists operate on a fortnightly rollover basis meaning there are always two practitioners to show new arrivals the ropes. The HHN teams stay in a rented house with treatment rooms and accommodation on the edge of the Turkish quarter characterised by cobbled streets, quaint shops and cafés. They are all qualified and experienced therapists, and treat anyone who needs help regardless of race, colour or creed. Clients come from the Association of Concentration Camp Victims, the Association of Civil Victims of War and the Centre for Torture Victims. There's an endless stream and there's always a long waiting list.

One member explained, "the stories we hear are haunting and heart-breaking and the longterm physical and psychological damage of the traumas each person has suffered can last years, which is why people keep coming to us". There are reports of reduced pain, increased mobility, improved quality of sleep, or more simply an increase in optimism and hope. Despite their appalling experiences, therapists unanimously agree that their clients hold their grief and anguish with humbling courage. "We know we help people move on - we try to heal the scars even if it's just a little bit," adds another member.

On my visit in 2007 I worked as a Reiki Healer for Healing Hands Network and came to appreciate just what these other members had been referring to, which is why I've booked my ticket to return this August. My journal of that visit, which is typical of the experiences I will be returning to, follows ...