CULTURE AND COMMUNITY HEALING Role play, plenary, mini lecture and discussion Repression of culture during periods of conflict, or even after such conflict, can destroy feelings of identity and belonging (International IDEA, 2003). The ways that communities behave in post-conflict periods differ from community to community. According to International IDEA (2003), the way that a community deals with a violent past is intimately tied to its customs and culture. Culture influences the system of collective memory, and it is also a rich resource for finding home-grown mechanisms to bring about healing. Local traditions and indigenous knowledge systems can play a crucial role in the healing process of both individuals and communities. According to Chitsike (2012), protective and empowering traditions can help ameliorate the harm of past violence through ceremonies, ritual exchanges, prayers, and public acts of atonement. Culture acts as a rich resource for finding home-grown tools to use in the healing and reconciliation processes. As such, community healing processes must be culturally appropriate. A mismatch between healing processes used and the culture of the people could be a recipe for disaster and might cause more harm than good. Examples of traditional mechanisms that are rooted in the local culture include the Gacaca courts in Rwanda, the cleansing rituals in Sierra Leone, the Mato Oput in northern Uganda, the Barza Intercommunautaire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Bashingaantahe in Burundi. In Zimbabwe, reburials are conducted in order to bring closure and healing to families whose loved ones who died and were buried far away from home. According to the Zimbabwean belief system, the spirit of the dead plays an essential role in the lives of family members by guiding and nurturing them. If a spirit is not honoured with a funeral and the necessary ritual is not completed, the spirit can become restless and angry, thereby bringing ‘bad luck’ to the family and community. Clearly, the symbolic value of the burial and the subsequent rituals are vital to the healing process in the Zimbabwean context. According to Volkan (2000), a United States of America-based psychiatrist, traumatic wounds require a societal mourning process in order that the population may leave its traumatic memories behind. Culture can be a powerful force hindering the reconciliation and healing process. Huyse and Salter (2008) note that the Gacaca courts constituted a men’s issue and women were therefore not allowed to take a leadership role. Culture can therefore inhibit certain sections of the community – in the aforementioned instance, by preventing women from effectively engaging in the healing processes. Villa-Vicencio et al. (2005) note that, in the DRC, women and children did not effectively participate in the healing processes. For effective community healing to take place, all voices should be heard, especially those of women and children, as they are usually the most affected by traumatic experiences. In African culture, men are not expected to speak of grievances or to cry, and they therefore suffer from traumatic experiences in silence. In most societies, women who experience sexual abuse often keep quiet as rape is regarded as shameful and may even lead to ostracism. In most such cases, these women remain wounded for the rest of their lives (see Module 4). The following is a case study that shows how cultural practices can aid the healing process among either victims or perpetrators. 6 Community Healing: A training manual for Zimbabwe