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Community leaders complete community healing training workshop
Heal Zimbabwe Trust
July 17, 2010

Twenty-eight community leaders drawn from various provinces in Zimbabwe underwent training on how to facilitate community healing in their respective local communities. Speaking at a certificate award ceremony of the community healing training workshop hosted by Heal Zimbabwe Trust and the Institute For Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in Harare today, Minister For National Healing and Reconciliation, Sekai Holland applauded Heal Zimbabwe for the efforts shown towards rebuilding and restoring peace in communities after years of strive. She highlighted the need to start the healing process at a community level, as cases of political violence are very sensitive and highly political.

The first training workshop comprised of the first module, which is to be followed by three other modules leading the community leaders graduating with a full course in community healing. The training was made possible through the facilitation team from IJR and Hon Holland took the opportunity to thank the facilitators for playing a significant role in assisting Zimbabweans during its transitional phase. The participants comprised of gender activists, representatives of farm workers, human rights lawyers, teachers, youth leaders, church leaders and traditional leaders.

Minister Holland said contrary to expectations of public opinion, the organ's duty was only to advise Government, in the spirit and framework of the GPA, towards sustainable national peace within their communities and the broader nation. Commenting on the xenophobia in South Africa, she told the meeting that it was unjustified for South Africans to attack other African nationals as Zimbabwe and the then frontline states had sacrificed immensely in the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. She added that South Africa is yet to go through the period of post independent disillusionment and conflict which Zimbabwe is currently grappling with and when they do they will realize that the problem is more with post independent leadership than with foreign influence and immigrants. The participants thanked Heal Zimbabwe for awarding them an opportunity to gain the necessary expertise that is crucial in trying to resolve conflicts in communities.

Important aspects of the training:

• The Community Healer should seek to understand the Community he/she will be working with before beginning the healing process(i.e. the cultural values and norms of the community, the economic status, their history, political parties, religion etc)
• Community is multifaceted. In understanding the Community the Community Worker should be able to deduce the complexities within that community and the commonalities that bind them, making it easier to select the type of community he/she will work with.
• A Community Worker should act as an impartial and fair individual and should have the ability to manage conflict and change
• It is difficult to carry out healing in a Community where there is still fighting, healing is best done after fighting stops
• Geographical factors and other factors such as ethnicity should be considered in identifying the roots of conflict in a Community.
• Should have a comprehensive and accurate community profile, know the leaders, the tribes, the organizations working there and the conflict areas. This will enable the Community worker to know who and how to approach, for easier access to the Community
• The nature of the conflict in most cases is organized violence, led by political leaders and perpetrated by followers, however during transition leaders do not open up
• The Security sector can be a stumbling block for implementation of some mechanisms of healing, for example prosecution, because of fear they may act as spoilers to the transition, thus mechanisms should be appropriate for the type of community and the nature of the conflict.
• Reconciliation is not equal to forgiveness, perpetrators should not be forced to confess and victims should not be forced to forgive.
• Reconciliation must come down to the Communities, it just does not entail public declaration by leaders in support of the process, the Communities at individual and Community level should be willing to begin the process and to take the risks involved. Individuals and communities must be committed to healing it cannot be enforced by the healer or the government.

Heal Zimbabwe will monitor the implementation of what has been learnt. Peace building in all communities is the responsibility of every Zimbabwean and communities need the skills and expertise, which the workshop provided. Government should allow the police to professionally carry out its duties without undue political interference to prevent impunity and reduce the chances of recurrence of violence in local communities.

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