Drama therapy (Mini lecture, discussions and drama) Drama therapy is the intentional use of drama or theatre processes to achieve therapeutic goals. As well as being a powerful agent for personal therapeutic change, drama is also a powerful tool for effecting social or political awareness. Theatre can, therefore, be used to highlight issues of power and injustice (Langley, 2006). Drama is marked by powerful metaphors and symbols that can be used to express feelings in communities as well as become a method for preaching the gospel of peace. Drama therapy utilises methods that have the potential to encourage community healing. Through pictures, plays and symbols, drama therapy can be used to challenge and stimulate the individual’s thinking on how he or she can contribute to the peace-building process in a community that has experienced violence. The satire and humour created through drama can offer safe platforms for discussing sensitive issues pertaining to violence – even at the institutional and structural level, as in the case of Zimbabwe. Since drama is popular in Zimbabwe, it can be used as an effective tool for discussing issues that can contribute to the community healing process. Economic healing: Compensation (Mini lecture and group discussion) Economic healing is a form of reparation or compensation and is a key transitional-justice mechanism. In transitional justice, reparations are measures taken by the state to redress gross and systematic violations of human rights law or humanitarian law through the administration of some form of compensation or restitution to the victims. Of all the mechanisms of transitional justice, reparations are unique because they directly address the situation of the victims. Reparations, if well designed, acknowledge victims’ suffering and offer measures of redress, as well as some form of compensation for the violations suffered (De Greiff, 2006). The role of the church (Group discussions and plenary) For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14–15) The role of the church is often at the centre of the national and community healing processes. The churches are the largest CSOs in Zimbabwe, and the vast majority of people in Zimbabwe are church members and attendees. It is estimated that 80% of Zimbabweans are practising Christians. Often, the church congregations transcend ethnic barriers, geographical locations and political polarities. With the ever-shrinking democratic space in Zimbabwe, the churches remain the only institutions that can access all corners of the country without much hindrance. Also, the churches have the moral authority as well as a theological basis to speak and act against injustice. Thus the church can be an effective actor in promoting reconciliation by emphasising the idea that everyone has the example of Jesus Christ to follow, and that peace can only be achieved when people can let go of the past by forgiving those who have wronged them. Drawing on the belief that ‘blessed are the peacemakers’ (Matthew 5:9), forgiving means showing love and doing away with bitterness such that people make peace with their enemies. In this way, each Christian has a mandate to make peace. Module 2: Approaches to community healing 27 2