Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2410

Tonight's special guest is James Buffin from Toronto, Ontario, a returning NAASCA family member. "After experiencing some horrific sexual abuse and betrayal by a caregiver as a pre-teen I lived a fragmented alienated existence for over 30 years," James says. "Because I was uneducated about the long-term impact of child sex abuse, I had no idea that the problems I carried were actually symptoms of the abuse. By grade eight I was drinking to the point of passing out. Some days I was binge drinking before school. I sat at the back of class and avoided teachers and was successful at not getting caught. I let my appearance go, under the guise of ‘tough guy,’ but under it I was hurting terribly. … One of my teachers affectionately called me her ‘little under achiever.’ Too bad for me she never took a closer look or asked me what was going on." He goes on, "Eight years ago I began a remarkable healing journey. One of the major areas I was blocked was career. All I ever wanted was to be a filmmaker. So, I began filming my own recovery." Given the prolific feelings of release I have experienced with the support of an amazing community in Toronto at a place that runs peer facilitated programs, The Gatehouse, I also wanted to give something back. So I made a video blog featuring empowered survivors." James hopes it will help others. It's used in the programming at The Gatehouse and also the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. One of the videos he's most proud of is the Special Episode about the Blue Ribbon March in Bolivia. "I hope you find the episodes useful," James says, "and welcome comments and feedback."