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Society in Transition

The Training Department (alternatively known as Society in Transition) contains programmes that seek to respond to Rwanda’s post-genocide reality and joins many other organisations and the Rwandan government in promoting non-violence, peaceful conflict resolution, justice, reconstruction, and reconciliation.  The department contains the following programmes and projects:

Let’s Talk about Peace (Parlons de la Paix)

This programme brings people together in one-day events to talk about key questions in Rwandan society.  Its goal is to promote greater understanding of problems in Rwanda so that leaders and others may act to improve the situation.  This year, the programme will primarily organize debates in secondary schools to talk about the problem of genocide ideology.  We will also invite local authorities in various districts to days of reflection.
This programme is designed to help community leaders (pastors, local authorities, and others) to respond more effectively to conflict and lack of peace in their communities.  Through a three-day seminar, these leaders will be introduced to the mechanisms of conflict resolution, restorative justice, and peaceful coexistence.  Project ABUNZI (see below) is part of this programme.

This two-year project will train community mediators and local authorities in the mechanisms of conflict resolution in the provinces of Kibuye and Byumba.  Provincial offices will be opened and new staff hired to support this project.

The European Union (European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights) is the primary donor for Project ABUNZI.

This programme helps to sensitize local communities to the gacaca process and helps to reintegrate recently released prisoners back into their communities.  Gacaca is the justice system that has been developed in Rwanda to help try more than 100,000 people who are suspected of committing crimes during the genocide.  Less serious crimes are tried through community-based tribunals using the participation of the community members in all facets of the process.  People found guilty in gacaca tribunals are sentenced to some time in prison and, upon release, significant community service in the spirit of It is hoped that gacaca will not only accelerate the process of justice but also promote truth-telling and reconciliation in Rwanda.

FPH organises three-day seminars covering conflict resolution, restorative justice, and peaceful coexistence bring together survivors and ex-prisoners in a spirit of reconciliation and mutual discovery.  After the seminar, participants are encouraged to work together to build a house for a vulnerable family in their community, be that a genocide widow or orphan or a very needy ex-prisoner and his family.  FPH provides the sheet metal for the roofs after the participants have located materials for and built the remainder of the house themselves.  We also distribute humanitarian aid to recently released prisoners to help them reintegrate back into the community.  This programme also has a monitoring component which can respond quickly to critical situations in the country, such as the killings in Kaduha, Gikongoro.  An interdepartmental peace committees project (Project UMUHUZA) shares many of the same objectives of this project.

  • Affirmation of ourselves and others–recognising our positive qualities and our goodness, and finding these traits in others

  • Co-operation–practicing teamwork in a way that diminishes personal desires for the benefit of the group.  Decision-making through a consensual process.
  • Community skills–building trust, respect for others, and inclusiveness
  • Communication–Listening with caring attention, speaking with clarity, ownership instead of blame, and awareness of body language
  • Conflict resolution–finding common ground on which to base a non-violent solution


A sample agenda for a Basic Workshop is as follows:

Day 1 Community Building (within workshop)
Definition of Violence
Active Listening
Tree of Violence (Roots and Fruits)

Day 2 Tree of Peace
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Transforming Power
“Hassle Lines”
Cooperation Skills

Day 3 Transforming Power (cont.)
Role Plays
Application of Skills
Affirmation Posters
Closing

There are three levels of AVP training: Basic, Advanced, and Training for Facilitators.  All workshops last for three days and emphasize building community among participants.  The Basic workshop provides an initial introduction to the concepts outlined above.  In the Advanced workshops, participants choose the thematic focus that they want to explore more fully.  Examples of such themes include fear, anger, forgiveness, or discrimination.  In the Training for Facilitators, participants learn the skills needed to lead workshops on their own.

In Rwanda, several AVP concepts have been particularly well-received and helpful.  First, AVP facilitators introduce two “trees”: the Tree of Violence and the Tree of Peace.  Participants work together to identify the root causes of violence and the fruits of this tree, and then they do the same for the Tree of Peace.  This metaphor has been absorbed deeply by participants who seek ways to transform their own personal and communal trees of violence into those of peace.  To help them with this transformation, AVP introduces the concept of Transforming Power: the idea that there is a power that is able to transform violent and destructive situations and behaviour into liberating and constructive experiences and cooperative behaviour. This concept is introduced along with 12 guidelines for tapping that power. Gacaca judges and others who have been trained in AVP in Rwanda have testified to the impact that this concept has had on their daily lives as well as in within their peace building efforts in the community.

At the end of the AVP workshops, participants understand better the root cause of violence and have specific strategies and capacity to minimize violence in their homes, workplaces and communities.  They are better able to listen deeply and seek the truth, and will understand the value of human rights.
The AVP programme, a non-violence and conflict resolution training programme imported from the United States, has been a huge success in Rwanda.  In 2004, the AVP programme trained over 1000 gacaca judges in three day seminars.  The characteristics of this programme include:

In the trauma healing seminars, participants are introduced to the concept of trauma, which for many is a new concept.  This helps to explain to many participants what they or others have been experiencing as a result of violence and loss.  Just the introduction of this concept is a powerful step toward healing.  Then the workshop moves on to acknowledging and discussing participants  Loss and Grief.  Almost all participants have lost someone or something due to violence.  For many, it has been impossible to truly grieve, because the truth of loved ones  deaths or the whereabouts of their remains are unknown.  Workshops look at alternatives for mourning, and discuss the role of Gacaca in this process.  The workshop then touches on the topic of anger, since many people feel pressured to repress their anger, and that can hinder both personal healing and national reconciliation.  Lastly, the workshops acknowledge that the deep-seated mistrust and mutual suspicion that exists as a result of the country�s tragic history is also a hindrance to healing.  Without creating a “false trust  the workshops gently encourage participants to examine the root causes of trust and chart a path toward rebuilding trust in their families and communities.  Many workshops bring together genocide survivors with released prisoners or the wives of prisoners, and the trust walk has had a powerful impact on people who fundamentally believe that all people are bad.  The workshops begin to call out the good in the participants, and to introduce the possibility that people have the capacity to change and to heal.

At the end of the trauma healing workshops, participants will understand their own and other reactions, and have concrete ideas for how to manage trauma reactions.  This, in turn will increase the likelihood of their participation in Gacaca. Furthermore, they will have created meaningful relationships across dividing lines as a step toward healing and reconciliation.

A typical trauma-healing seminar covers the following topics:
Day 1 Understanding trauma
Causes of Trauma
Symptoms of Trauma
Effects of Trauma
Day 2 Stages of Loss & Grief
Mourning
Stages of healing
How to deal with anger
Day 3 Trust Walk

Tree of Mistrust
Tree of Trust