OVERVIEW Community healing is an emerging field of activity that seeks to deal with wounds created by conflict, violence and collective trauma. It is therefore an important aspect of social justice. Community healing is a matter of addressing wounds, not punishing human evil. According to Lederach (1997), healing involves the reconstruction of communal relations after mass violence. Community healing thus precedes reconciliation after open warfare, asking only that post-war communities begin the process of restoring relations so that they can coexist, make decisions together and rebuild their destroyed common relationships. Often a prelude to reconciliation and forgiveness, healing can emerge through initiatives that rehumanise broken relations, rebuild trust, normalise daily life, and restore hope. Community healing is therefore a means to an end; with the end goal being the attainment of social cohesion and development in both the affected community and the nation as a whole. Community healing seeks to examine why certain actions were taken during a period of conflict. However, it also seeks to understand how communities can rebuild their relations as a way of peace-building in the community. Community approaches to healing must therefore address a number of social aspects, such as ethnicity, religion, tradition and culture, as well as the history of the community. This will ensure that all the actors are factored into the peace-building processes so that they achieve their intended objectives. The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) established by the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Ch. 12:252b) seeks to develop and implement programmes to promote national healing, unity and cohesion in Zimbabwe and the peaceful resolution of disputes. AIM To equip communities with knowledge and skills in respect of the various approaches to community healing. OBJECTIVES • To identify different approaches used in community healing processes • To promote the effectiveness of different community healing approaches in the Zimbabwean context • To promote local actors who will lead community healing processes. TRADITIONAL APPROACHES (Brainstorming and discussions) Traditional peace-building approaches have their roots in indigenous societal structures and cultural values and have usually been employed and refined over time. The role of indigenous knowledge systems and the use of local capacities cannot be underestimated in bringing communities together. These traditional mechanisms are often located deep in rural areas, functioning quite obliviously of national initiatives. Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda are but a few of many countries that have managed to achieve community healing by using traditional mechanisms deeply rooted in cultural norms and practices. Traditional approaches are usually informed by culture, morality and ethics, as well as by the day-to-day activities that communities often engage in. Tradition is used to preserve the moral and ethical fabric of a society and draws on shared beliefs and practices which promote social cohesion in order to foster development. Traditions and customs therefore 20 Community Healing: A training manual for Zimbabwe