It is imperative that people have the opportunity to express themselves, retelling their stories as a means to demystify the fear and pain associated with their experiences. For this reason, peace, reconciliation and healing cannot be sustainable unless they occur in tandem with a people’s way of life or culture. The significance of understanding the past cannot be overemphasised. The main reason why conflicts are protracted is that they have a background. As long as that background is not exhaustively acknowledged, appreciated and given due attention, all attempts to address the conflicts concerned will be superficial. Sisson’s (2007) questions become pertinent to the issues of community healing in post conflict contexts. He asks: ‘How does a society learn to live with the memory of genocide and crimes against humanity?’(Sisson, 2007). He goes on to indicate that there is no simple answer to this question, noting that dealing with the question of memory presents a dilemma to peace educators: It seems that peace education faces a serious dilemma: Leaving the past unaddressed – according to CNA – will necessarily mean that things are swept under the carpet. Forcing people to deal with the past, on the other hand, is not effective, as it will not change attitudes. On the contrary, it might lead to rejection or depression. Talking about the past, present, and future has to be balanced in a way which avoids exhausting and alienating people. (Sisson, 2007, p.33) Table 2: Reconciliation and the prevention of new violence Inhibitors (←): Promoters (→): Lack of understanding of the root causes of violence Understanding, and actions guided by it Lack of understanding of the impact of violence Understanding of its impact on survivors, perpetrators, bystanders Devaluing the other Humanising the other/developing a positive attitude to the other through words, deep contact, working on shared goals, education Unhealed psychological wounds of survivors, perpetrators, bystanders Healing of wounds by all parties Lack of truth Truth (complex: shared) Conflicting collective memories/histories Working both toward a shared history and toward accepting that the other group has a different view of history ‘Chosen’ traumas Addressing the impact of the past Lack of justice Justice: punitive, restorative, procedural, economic Lack of forgiveness Moving toward forgiveness (with mutuality) Lack of acknowledgement of responsibility by perpetrators and their group Acknowledgement, apology, regret, empathy Lack of acceptance of the past Increasing acceptance of the past: ‘This is what happened; this is part of who we are’ Destructive ideologies Constructive ideologies Undemocratic systems and practices Developing pluralistic, democratic values and institutions Raising children as obedient followers Raising inclusively caring children with moral courage (positive socialisation) Source: Developed from tables and material in Staub (2011) 14 Community Healing: A training manual for Zimbabwe