The Trinka and Sam Team
We developed the different Trinka and Sam stories in partnership with colleagues from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. We then partnered with colleagues around the world to develop the different language versions. Click on the stories below to learn more about the teams that collaborated on each story and on the photos to meet each of our partners.
Original Trinka and Sam Team
Additional Consultants
Spanish Adaptation Team
Albanian Adaptation Team
Chinese Adaptation Teams
Finish Adaptation Team
Portuguese Adaptation Team
Greek Adaptation Team
Turkish Adaptation Team
Coming Soon
Vietnamese Adaptation Team
Other Languages
Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day
This was our first Trinka and Sam story. Following Hurricane Katrina, our team partnered with colleagues in New Orleans who were part of the Early Trauma Treatment Network to better understand the needs of young children and families. Mindy Kronenberg was a core collaborator in the development of the Parent Guide for this story, and Dee Ippen provided her layout and design expertise to help the little mice tell their story in a visual pleasing way.
Mindy Kronenberg
Mindy Kronenberg, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who specializes in infant mental health and the assessment and treatment of trauma across the lifespan. She completed the Irving Harris Infant Mental Health Fellowship at LSU Health Sciences Center where she previously served as Assistant Professor. Dr. Kronenberg provides national training on evidence-based and evidence-informed assessments, practices, and treatments including Child-Parent Psychotherapy, Psychological First Aid, Reflective Supervision, and Relationship-Based Assessment. Dr. Kronenberg is Tennessee’s Project Launch Young Child Wellness Partner, a founding board member of the Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (AIMHiTN), an NCTSN affiliate member, and a past co-chair of NCTSN’s Zero to Six Workgroup.
She also collaborated on Trinka and Sam and the Day the Earth Shook.
Dee Ippen
Dee is a gardener and a desktop publisher. In her free time she follows Loki's advice as much as possible – except for the purring part.
Hurricane: Other Language Versions
Spanish
Cebuano
Haitian Creole
Vietnamese
Waray
Trinka and Sam and the Day the Earth Shook
Because our family lives in San Francisco, the next disaster on our radar was earthquakes. We thought we would create this story while hoping that we would never have to use it. Our colleagues at the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Melissa Brymer and Jennifer Grady joined the Trinka and Sam team along with Mindy Kronenberg.
Melissa Brymer
Melissa Brymer, Ph.D., Psy.D. is the Director of Terrorism and Disaster Programs of the UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress and its National Child Traumatic Stress Network. In this capacity, Dr. Brymer has been involved with the development of acute interventions, assessment, and educational materials in the area of terrorism, disasters, and school crises. She is one of the primary authors of NCTSN/NCPTSD Psychological First Aid and Skills for Psychological Recovery and have served as a consultant for many Federal, state, and local agencies across the country and internationally after disasters, terrorism, school shootings, and other mass violence tragedies. Dr. Brymer is the lead advisor to the Newtown Public Schools recovery program, and has helped to establish many long-term public disaster mental health programs for children and families. She is also the PI for a National Institute of Justice research grant examining the short- and long-term impact of multiple deadly school shootings and mass violence events.
Also collaborated on Trinka and Sam and the Swirling Twirling Wind and Trinka and Sam the Big Fire.
Trinka and Sam and the Swirling Twirling Wind
This story was developed in collaboration with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network following the tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri. For this endeavor, we again partnered with Melissa Brymer and were fortunate enough to work with Lisa Orem and Renee White from Joplin, MO. Mariana Holliday from the National Center of the NCTSN also joined the team.
Tornado: Other Language Versions
Spanish
Trinka and Sam the Big Fire
This story was developed in collaboration with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network following the wildfires in Northern California. For this endeavor, we again partnered with Melissa Brymer. The story was completed less than two weeks after the fires started. Many of our friends and colleagues were directly impacted, and we have ties to this community, so we worked around the clock to ensure that this resource was completed in English and Spanish as soon as possible.
Spanish
Greek
Portuguese
Greek Translation and Adaptation Team
Ntina Kourmousi
Dr. Ntina (Nadia) Kourmousi a Laboratory Teaching Staff Member of "Promotion of Health and Psychosocial Health in Education" at the Department of Education of the School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPETE) in Athens, Greece. Her research and publications focus on students’ and teachers’ mental health promotion and social emotional skills. In collaboration with the Early Childhood Education Department of the University of Ioannina she has conducted multiple training seminars and workshops on students’ and teachers’ psycho-social empowerment. She is the author of the Greek Mental Health Promotion Kindergarten and Elementary school programmes "Steps for life".
Greek Adaptations: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook (in process)
Varvara (Vera) Vorylla
Vera Vorylla holds a B.A. degree with distinction In English Language and Literature from the University of Athens, a M.Ed from Hellenic Open University and she is a Ph.D. candidate in social skills at the University of Ioannina. She has been a co-ordinator of Environmental Education in Primary Education Directorate of East Attica since 2009 and has organized numerous student actions and teacher trainings on sustainability and active citizenship.
Greek Adaptations: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook (in process)
Chryssa Kouraki
Chryssa Kouraki was born in Athens. She studied at the Primary Education Department of the University of Ioannina, where she also carried out her research for her PhD thesis under the title “Narration and literature characters: the fictional figures in the novels of Zorz Sari (1969-1995). For the last 23 years she has been working in the Greek Primary Education with first priority the promotion of literature reading to students. She has taken part in seminars and conferences regarding children’s literature and cultural themes, in conferences papers editions and in Educational Material on children’s books. She has also been a member of many children's literature award committees for 10 years, including the State Awards committee. Since 2012 she has been Coordinator of Cultural Programmes of the Directorate of East Attica Primary Education sector. From this post she has established the Teachers Reading Club with focus on children’s literature. She has also set up the “Reading Club” blog (lesxhanagnosis.blogspot.gr) about children’s literature, which was awarded with “Kyriakos Papadopoulos” award from the Greek IBBY Department.
Greek Adaptations: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook (in process)
Isidora Spyrou
Isidora Spyrou was born in 1964 in Peania, Attica and in 1982 she was admitted to the Arsakeio Academy of Psychiko, from where she graduated in 1984. From 1985 to 2020 she served in Primary Education as a teacher, in the private and public sector. Whilst teaching, she obtained a second degree from National Kapodistrian University of Athens, in Medieval and Modern Greek Philology. She has an A & B level certifications in the use of computers in Education. During her tenure she dealt particularly with issues of Grammar, Syntax and Written Expression.
Greek Adaptations: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook (in process)
Fighting the Big Virus:
Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
This story was developed in collaboration with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this story, we again partnered with Melissa Brymer. We completed this story within one month of receiving the stay at home order in California and then reached out others to begin the translation of developing other language versions that could support families around the world.
Spanish Translation and Adaptation Team
We were fortunate enough to have wonderful Spanish speaking colleagues who partnered with us to ensure that the stories would be available to Spanish-speaking families following disasters. Team members included Carmen Rosa Noroña, Carolina Velasco-Hodgson, Luis Flores, Arú González, Gloria Castro, and Luisa Rivera.
Carmen Rosa Noroña
Carmen Rosa Noroña, LCSW, MS. Ed., CEIS is from Ecuador where she trained and practiced as a clinical psychologist. For over 20 years, Carmen Rosa has provided clinical services to young children and their families in a variety of settings including early intervention, home-based and outpatient programs. She currently is the Clinical Coordinator of the Child Witness to Violence Project and the Associate Director of the Boston Site Early Trauma Treatment Network at Boston Medical Center. She is a Child-Parent Psychotherapy National Trainer, a Zero to Three DC 0-5 Expert Faculty and a member of the Diversity Informed Infant Mental Health Tenets Workgroup. Her practice and research interests are on the impact of trauma on attachment; the intersection of culture, immigration, and trauma; tailoring mental health services to new immigrant families; and cross-cultural reflective supervision and consultation. She is a co-chair of the Culture Consortium of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and has adapted and translated materials for Spanish-speaking families affected by trauma, including the Trinka y Juan series. Carmen Rosa has also contributed to the literature in infant mental health and diversity.
Spanish Adaptations: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day; Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook; Trinka and Sam and the Swirling Twirling Wind; Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Fighting the Big Virus; Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
M. Carolina Velasco-Hodgson
M. Carolina Velasco-Hodgson, MSW. Is a bilingual clinician with more than 14 years of experience. She is from Chile where she was trained and practices as a clinical psychologist; after obtaining a Fulbright Scholarship, she completed her master’s in Social Work at Boston College, and currently she is a Public Health PhD’s student. She was a social work intern for two years at Child Witness to Violence Project and a family specialist for the first year of Project Dulce. She is also an active member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) Translation Review Committee since 2010 and an Individual Affiliate to the network since 2014.
Carolina currently works in Chile as adjunct assistant professor at the School of Social Work, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and she is an infant and child psychotherapist in private practice. Her interests include trauma prevention and intervention, immigration, cultural child development, and child–parent bonding and attachment.
Spanish Adaptations: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day; Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook; and Trinka and Sam and the Swirling Twirling Wind; Trinka and Sam the Big Fire
Luis Flores
Luis E. Flores, M.A.LPC, LCDC, LCCA, RPT-S, is the Executive Vice President of SCAN Inc. (Serving Children and Adults in Need). He has been working in the adult and children substance abuse and mental health fields for the past twenty-seven years. He has a master’s degree in counseling psychology and is licensed in in Texas as a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and Licensed Childcare Administrator. In the past twenty-seven years, he has devoted his energies to developing culturally-responsive community-based programming for Mexican American families along the Texas-Mexico border area. Since 2002, he has been the project director for 16 projects funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He was born and raised in the Mexican side of the border and has lived in the US side of the border for the past 40 years. He is a founding member of the Translation Review Committee that is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. As a member of this committee, he has supported the Network in its efforts to increase linguistic competence and has helped in the translation of various English resources into Spanish.
Spanish Adaptations: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day; Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook; and Trinka and Sam and the Swirling Twirling Wind; Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Arú González
Arú González, Ed.M. is interested in the intersection between art, science, and social justice, particularly in the expression of embodied emotion in early prevention programs. He is experienced in translation and interpretation across diverse settings.
Spanish Adaptation: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire
Gloria Castro
Gloria Castro, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and Certified Sexual Assault Counselor who has developed, implemented, and disseminated an approach to work with women during pregnancy, labor and delivery and the postpartum period. She provides continuity of care to these families through Labor and Delivery, Postpartum unit, the NICU and Pediatric clinics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, UCSF.. She is currently working at CTRP developing and implementing Perinatal Child Parent Psychotherapy with pregnant women with history of mental health issues and multiple traumatic experiences.
Spanish Adaptation: Trinka and Sam the Big Fire; Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Albanian Adaptation Team
In 2019, after the magnitude 6.4 Albanian earthquake, Enkel Bulica reached out to us to request to translate and adapt the Trinka and Sam earthquake version for the Albanian population. This work was done jointly with Foundation Together Albania. In 2020, Enkel again reached out in partnership with Foundation Together Albania to translate Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together.
Enkel Bulica
Enkel is a Clinical Psychologyst and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in training. He is passionate about promoting mental health wellbeing and building resilience for children, youth and adults. His work experiences include work with vulnerable youth and adults on an individual basis, as well as in more broad community settings. He volunteers as an online counsellor on the Albanian online platform www.nukjevetem.al to offer psychological support for youth and parents.
Albanian Adaptation: Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook. Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Sonila Meçaj
Sonila is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist (Psychoanalytic/ Psychodynamic) and holder of the European Certificate for Psychotherapy. She holds also a master degree in Direction and Management of Health Care Institutions. She has worked from 2000 – 2007 as a clinical psychologist in Community Mental Health Center, and she has been involved in several WHO-Albanian projects on the development and promotion of mental health services in Albania. She has worked as well as a part time lecturer in the Social Work and Psychology Department (SSF), where she has taught “Introduction to psychotherapy” . She is the General Secretary of the Albanian Association for Psychotherapy and she’s pleasurably practicing psychotherapy from January 2004 mainly with youth and adults. She also is experienced in providing supervision for mental health professionals and psychosocial services’ staff.
Albanian Adaptation: Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook. Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Anila Sulstarova
Dr. Anila Sulstarova has been trained as a professional at the Faculty of Social Sciences, where she has completed Bachelor, Master and Doctorate studies. She is a pedagogue in the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology since 2005, teaching subjects such as Family Therapy, Art and play therapy, Attachment Pathologies. Dr. Sulstarova is a clinical psychologist since 2001 at the Bethany Social Services Clinic. The disorders she treats are: anxiety in children and adults; different phobias in children and adolescents; panic attacks on children, adolescents and adults; attachement pathologies; treatment of persons with avidance disorder personality; histrionic and addicted. Moreover, she has been part of development of some national strategies in the field of social services. She is also an external expert at several international and national organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, Terres des Homes and CRCA.
Chinese (Simplified) Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Piplo Productions partnered with a team from Social Workers Without Borders and other colleagues to develop the Simplified Chinese version of Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together. This collaboration was supported by the National Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the Early Trauma Treatment Network, both of which are funded through grants from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Candy (Tian ZHOU)
Candy (Tian Zhou), M.A. is the Director of Social Workers Across Borders and an approved instructor on Critical Incident Stress Management courses from International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). She participated in many post-disaster psycho-social support services in mainland China, and some other Asian countries. She is a mother of a 4-year-old son. She believes that every family and community have inner strenghts and resilience to fight against difficult times, we need to be patient and empower them to find out.
Tongtian Xiao
Tongtian Xiao, M.A. received his B.A. in sociology from Skidmore College, a liberal college that values creative thoughts and a master degree in sociology from Columbia University, where his major interest was on how large social upheavals in the large social environment could get people depressed or anxious. He has become a volunteer translator in humanitarian and crisis intervention fields since last year, because he wants to introduce more invaluable resources in these two fields to China where still faces relative paucity of reliable toolkits.
Chinese (Traditional for the Taiwan Population) Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Piplo Productions partnered with a team from the the Department of Life and Death in Nanhua Taiwan to develop this version of Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together.
Chang YinTsai
Tsai Chang-ying is from Taiwan.He is the assistant professor of the Department of Life and Death in Nanhua University.In the past, he has served in medical social work for many years, and has been engaged in the field of disaster social work, training many front-line workers. He is involved in teaching, supervision, research and implementation,primarily focusing on patient determination act,bereavement care methods.He has worked with terminal-stage patient,survivors and the elders within social services for nearly 20 years.His research fields includes medical social work, social work for the elderly and bereavement care.
Rui Xuan
Lee Rui Xuan is an undergraduate in Department of Life and Death Studies, Nanhua University, Taiwan.She is also Professor Tsai's assistant .
Finish Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Piplo Productions partnered with a team from the Finnish association of psychotraumatology: https://psykotrauma.fi/ to develop the Finnish version of Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together.
Mia Huolman
A special psychologist in child and adolescent psychology, with special interest in child trauma and dissociation. Seh works in a child psychiatry clinic, as well as self-employed, with children and families with different kind of need for support.
Soili Poijula
Licensed psychologist and psychotherapist, a pioneer of psychotraumatology in Finland www.soilipoijula.fi
Klas Backholm
A University Lecturer in Mass Communication, Political Science with Mass Communication, Åbo Akademi University
(Finland). His research areas include: (a) the psychological wellbeing of journalists after work-related crisis exposure or harassment; and (b) best practices for crisis journalism and communication in the digital media landscape.
Lasse Jalonen
A Finnish psychotherapist in his own reception and also a crisis worker in Finnish red cross. He is mainly working with young people and families.
Tapio Halla
Psychiatrist, Tampere City Mental care, Psychiatric Clinic for Immigrants
Haitian Creole Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2017, following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, Piplo Productions partnered with the Center for Child Stress and Health at Florida State University and Dr. Jean Mesidor to develop the Haitian Creole version of Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day. This collaboration was supported by the National Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the Early Trauma Treatment Network, both of which are funded through grants from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Following the 2021 earthquake, Piplo Productions again partnered with the Center for Child Stress and Health at Florida University and the National Center to develop the Haitian Creole version of Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook.
Jean Kesnold Mesidor
Jean Mesidor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Florida State University College of Medicine (FSUCOM) and a Florida Licensed Psychologist, with a focus on Clinical Health Psychology in primary care. Dr. Mesidor provides behavioral health services particularly to underserved and rural populations in the Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Departments at Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, a Federally Qualified Health Center located in Immokalee, Florida. Dr. Mesidor is fluent in Haitian Creole, French and English. His clinical and research interests include chronic care management with low literacy populations and the impacts of trauma on health.
Haitian Creole Adapation: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day
Sarepta Lucien Mesidor
Sarepta Lucien Mesidor is a Haitian Creole consultant and Haitian cultural specialist. She provides Haitian Creole translation services for the FSU Center for Children Stress & Health. Sarepta enjoys spending time with her family, singing, and cooking.
Haitian Creole Adapation: Trinka and Sam and the Day the Earth Shook
Japanese Translation and Adaptation Team
Following the 2014 earthquake in Japan, we worked with different native speaking Japanese mental health professionals to develop the Japanese version of Trinka and Sam and the Day the Earth Shook.
Mariko Tanaka
Mariko Tanaka, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Counseling, San Francisco State University. She was born in Japan and immigrated to the US to complete her graduate education. Dr. Tanaka has been providing professional training to the Japanese psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and child care workers since 1985, visiting Japan 1-3 times a year. After the Tohoku Quake of 2011, she assisted her students in the recovery process by providing consultations and annual lectures in the region devastated by the Tsunami. She was excited with the opportunity to translate Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook.
Japanese Adaptation: Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook
Nepali Translation and Adaptation Team
Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, we worked with Freema Davis and Kishore Shrethra of Global Family Villages Nepal. Dr. Shrethra led the translation and adaptation team efforts.
Kishore Shrethra
Kishor Shrestha, Ph.D. in early childhood education, is the Country Director of Global Family Village – Nepal, an NGO supporting abandoned and orphaned children in Nepal. Before joining this organization he was a Professor at the Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. For over 30 years he has been conducting research, training and innovative activities in the field of early childhood care and education in Nepal and Asia-Pacific region. Dr. Shrestha is a member of the International Network on Peace Building with Young Children, UK. He was a Steering Committee member of Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Chidlhood (ARNEC) from 2008 to 2011. Since 2009 he has been working as a member of the editorial board and the country coordinator for ARNEC. He is also a member of International Advisory Group and joint Coordinator of the World Forum’s International Working Group on Peace Building, USA. He has been regularly organizing innovative training programs for the planners and practitioners, supporting higher education students in their research work and conducting researches in the field of early childhood care and education.
Nepalese Adaptation: Gita and Shyam the Day the Earth Shook
Philippines Translation and Adaptation Team
(Cebuano and Waray Versions)
In 2014, after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Bohol and Cebu and super Typhoon Haiyan made major landfalls in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, and Cebu, the USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc. (OPS) partnered with Piplo Productions and with the Holy Name University, students from the College of Education, students and teachers in Busao Elementary School (Maribojoc, Bohol), Caluctogan Elementary School (Dagami, Leyte) and the Department of Education Division of Bogo City to develop Cebuano and Waray versions of the story. Key members of the translation team were Ms. Peachy Gonzalez-Fernando , a registered psychologist and certified Specialist in Clinical Psychology and Dr. Judith Borja.
Priscilla (Peachy) Gonzalez-Fernando
Priscilla (Peachy) Gonzalez-Fernando, M.A. has an AB major in Psychology, minor in Family Life and Child Development, from University of the Philippines Diliman, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila. She was a preschool teacher, researcher and child psychology consultant for children’s television shows such as Sineskwela, Bayani, Hirayamanawari, MathTinik, Epol-Apple, and Art Jam, and a college instructor. She has had 20 years of training and experience in therapy for children and teens, play therapy, and the use of creative expression for healing. She also trained in sandplay therapy. Ms. Fernando is a Registered Psychologist, a Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) -Certified Specialist in Clinical Psychology, and a Certified Play Therapist-Supervisor and Board Member of the Philippine Association for Child and Play Therapy (PhilPlay).
Her specialty is children, adolescents, and adults who are going through life changes or transitions, or who have emotional or behavioral problems, including sadness, grief, depression, anger, anxiety or confusion. She also sees children and adults who are seeking to heal from experiences of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Together with her mentor Dr. Ma. Lourdes Carandang, she participated in a trauma counseling mission for disaster survivors in 1991 in Caranglan, Nueva Ecija, which resulted in the book “Pakikipag-kapwa Damdamin.” In more recent years, she has oriented, trained and in some instances accompanied volunteers in using art for disaster survivors, including volunteers for survivors of typhoon Sendong (which resulted in a big disastrous flash flood) in Iligan and Dumaguete, child survivors of the earthquake in Bohol and northern Cebu, and government worker survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. Currently she is involved in training various volunteer groups in Psychological First Aid (PFA).
Filipino Adaptations: Cebuano versions of Trinka and Sam and the Day the Earth Shook and Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day and Waray version of Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day
Portuguese Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Piplo Productions partnered with a team from the Department of Psychology from Polytechnic Institute of Viseu and ARSC.IP - ACES DL (Portugal) to develop the Portuguese version of Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together. The team also translated Trinka and Sam the Big Fire and Trinka and Sam the Day the Earth Shook.
Cátia Magalhães
Cátia Magalhães, Ph.D, is a clinic and health psychologist and Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu - Portugal (Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences) and researcher at CI&DEI and ISAMB (Faculty of Medicine- Univ. of Lisbon). She is doing a Postdoc at Univ. of Lisbon in health education, mindfulness and compassion approach for children and youth. Her areas of interested and research include prevention, parenting education, cross-cultural research, evidence-based interventions; mindful-compassion and ACT approach to children, youth and families. She has published and co-authored in national and international works target academic and professional audiences. She has also experience conducting translation and doing cultural adaptations parent and children evidence based programs and other resources for children and families that are originally developed in English language. She loves spending time cooking desserts and longs walks on the beach and green landscape to relax. She loves playing and enjoying the present moment with her little son.
Stories: Stories: Trinka e João no combate ao grande Vírus: Trinka, João e a comunidade trabalham juntos, Trinka e João e o Grande Fogo, Trinka e João O dia em que a terra tremeu
Bruno Carraça
Bruno Carraça, Ph.D, is a clinical and health psychologist and postdoc researcher at FMH-University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is Head of clinical and health psychology office at Portuguese national primary health Care (ACES-DL). His areas of interested and research include mindfulness-based interventions and compassion on clinical and sports settings. He has published and co-authored national and international articles and chapters (in topics related, e.g. mindfulness, self-compassion and ACT interventions on clinical and sport context). He has also experience conducting translation and adaptations on evidence based programs for Portuguese. He loves spending time on family, sports and beach, motorbikes, Rock and Jazz music. Also he likes to write poems and sunset meditation on the beach.
Stories: Stories: Trinka e João no combate ao grande Vírus: Trinka, João e a comunidade trabalham juntos, Trinka e João e o Grande Fogo, Trinka e João O dia em que a terra tremeu
Ana Berta Alves
Ana Berta Alves is a clinical psychologist and have a master's degree in psychosocial intervention with children and youngster at risk and Vice-president of Association for the Protection of People at Risk (APPR). She works with children, adults and families in a clinical context (private practice) and in the community context (social intervention projects). She’s a Specialist Professor at Higher Education School (department of Psychology and Educational Sciences) in Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugal. Ana is a proud mother of three. She loves being in the nature with her family, the smell of home baked cakes and she appreciates all that’s antique!
Stories: Stories: Trinka e João no combate ao grande Vírus: Trinka, João e a comunidade trabalham juntos, Trinka e João e o Grande Fogo, Trinka e João O dia em que a terra tremeu
José Sargento
José Sargento, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. He works with children, parents and adults in private practice. He combines the clinical work with teaching at Higher Education School – Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences). He is also an integrated researcher at the Centre for Studies in Education and Innovation (CI&DEI). He likes soccer, long family lunches and discussing ideas with his friends.
Stories: Stories: Trinka e João no combate ao grande Vírus: Trinka, João e a comunidade trabalham juntos, Trinka e João e o Grande Fogo, Trinka e João O dia em que a terra tremeu
Turkish Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2022, after the earthquakes affecting Turkey and Syria, Piplo Productions partnered with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the International Rescue Committee , and with Tuğçe Ebesek Büyükuğurlu, a board member of SOPHIA to develop the Turkish verson of Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook. The team also partnered with numerous individuals and groups in Turkey to disseminate the story.
Tuğçe Büyükuğurlu
Tuğçe Ebesek Büyükuğurlu, has a graduate and MA degree from İstanbul University Classics department, Latin Language and Literature. She’s a board member of SOPHIA (Network Meeting Coordinator) and contributes to improving the field actively. She had attended The Philosophy Foundation’s Specialist Philosopher and Advanced Facilitation Trainings, SAPERE’s P4C Training and Dialogue Works’ P4C+ Advanced and A-Z Thinking Moves training.
She works as a Level 2 Philosopher in The Philosophy Foundation Team, works actively with The Philosophy Man team and is accredited by Dialogue Works to give A-Z Thinking Moves training in Turkey.
She writes children’s books and translates/edits books about the field to contribute to Philosophy for/with Children in her country. Her books from the “Thought Experiments” series are: “Whatever You Want Machine” (Ne İstersen Makinesi), “Desert Prince and Ice” (Çöl Prensi ve Buz) and “The Hole in the Simit” (Simidin Ortası)–published by Masalperest Publishing. She translated The If Machine by Peter Worley to Turkish as Felsefe Makinesi (Paraşüt Publishing). She teaches from pre-school to junior-high in schools, runs online and face to face workshops with children, young people and adults. Trains teachers actively with Philotopia P4C Trainings, and organizes PhiloTalks for world renowned P4C experts to give seminars to Turkish educators.
Turkish Adaptation: Trinka and Sam: The Day the Earth Shook
Vietnamese Translation and Adaptation Team
In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey affected the Houston area, Piplo Productions partnered with the Baker Institute at Rice University and with UNICEF USA to develop the Vietnamese version of Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day. The team wanted to create a resource for Vietnamese families in the Gulf Coast who regularly experience hurricanes as well as for families in Vietnam who experience typhoons. The translation and adaptation team included Cuc Nguyen and Mimi Thuong Thuong.
In 2021, the team partnered again and were joined by Kim Dzung Nguyen to create the Vietnamese adaptation of Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together.
Mimi Thuong Thuong
Dr. Mimi Thuong is a licensed and endorsed early childhood mental health specialist in the state of California. She holds a Doctorate degree in Infant Early Childhood Development Disablities and Mental Health Disorders. She is skilled in using English and Vietnamese in professional and therapeutic settings.
Dr. Mimi Thuong works and resides in California but always wants to do more for the Vietnamese community, both in the states and in Vietnam. She successfully advocated for different projects that can better serve the Vietnamese young children in families in Santa Clara County and Orange County, which contain the largest Vietnamese population in the United States.
Dr. Mimi Thuong founded Beautyful Hero, a Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health that provides screening, assessment and early intervention for children who have co-occuring behavioral issues and developmental needs. Beautyful Hero’s headquarter is in Anaheim, California and has office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Vietnamese Adaptation: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day, Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Cuc Nguyen
Cuc Nguyen (Daisy) is a freelance translator/interpreter. Between 2008 and 2014, she worked for the Ministry of Foreigns Affairs of Vietnam. She then moved to the US and in 2016, she joined GearBubble, an e-commerce company that has a strong partnership in Vietnam.
Cuc started her translator/interpreter career in the fourth year at Hanoi University and was the interpreter of many ministerial and state-level delegations and events. Cuc dedicates her current time to be a work-from-home mother. Beside the work at GearBubble, Cuc participates in translating projects, because languages always hold an important place in her heart. Being part of Trinka and Sam's Vietnamese translation team was a special and sweet experience for Cuc, which made her feel more connected to her homeland Vietnam.
Vietnamese Adaptation: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day, Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together
Kim Dzung Nguyen
Kim Dzung Nguyen (Kim) is an energized social worker and has been working in the education field since 2015. She has a strong belief that education makes differences and world change starts with educated children.
Kim is currently working for Save the Children International in Vietnam with a focus on child participation and child development. She dedicates all her enthusiasm to make Vietnam and this world a better place for future generations. Joining Trinka and Sam's story translating project, Kim wants to contribute her experience to create friendly reading materials for Vietnamese children.
Vietnamese Adaptation: Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day, Fighting the Big Virus: Trinka, Sam, and Littletown Work Together