Whatever inhibits reconciliation also inhibits community healing, and vice versa; and whatever promotes reconciliation also promotes community healing, and vice versa. Fombad (2004) notes that the objectives of peace building include addressing the issue of emotional baggage that weighs down communities. 1 The objective of peace building is to strike a strategic balance between ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ peace. Because conflicts usually leave their mark on the postsettlement process in the form of broken lives, shattered and divided communities, distrust and hatred, the task of constructing a self-sustaining peace is never an easy one. The post-settlement peace building in such circumstances [involves] devising and implementing multi-tooled, place specific strategies to apply. (Fombad, 2004, p. viii) The strategies have to address the divisive emotional issues that sustain conflicts and prevent communities from moving forward. The approaches for addressing them have to be place-specific so that they remain relevant to the community’s experiences, current realities and vision for the future. Healing implies that there are victims of violence and abuse. Victims fall into different categories representing diverse needs, as indicated by the statement below: Victims are at the heart of the reconciliation process. But who are they? While they have much in common, they also differ widely in their experiences, needs and capacities. Direct victims have suffered the direct effects of violence. Indirect victims are linked to direct victims in such a way that they also suffer because of that link. First-generation victims are those who have been affected during their lifetime. But their children – the ‘second generation’ – also absorb the pain and grief, keeping it alive to threaten the future of a society. Brutal conflict also has a different impact on men and women, because victimization is partly gender specific. Children are the most defenceless victims, especially refugee children and child soldiers. Each category may need different kinds or versions of reconciliation. (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2003, p. 7) Although conflicts affect both the perpetrators and the victims, perceived or real, healing is necessary from the perspective of a victim who bears the scars and impacts of conflicts physically and emotionally (see Modules 6 and 7). > Case study / Reconciliation in Sierra Leone: What is Fambul Tok? An overview Fambul Tok (Krio for ‘Family Talk’) emerged in Sierra Leone as a face-to-face communityowned program bringing together perpetrators and victims of the violence in Sierra Leone’s eleven-year civil war, through ceremonies rooted in the local traditions of wartorn villages. It provides Sierra Leonean citizens with an opportunity to come to terms with what happened during the war, to talk, to heal, and to chart a new path forward, together. Fambul Tok is built upon Sierra Leone’s ‘family talk’ tradition of discussing and resolving issues within the security of a family circle. The program works at the village level to help communities organize ceremonies that include truth-telling bonfires and traditional cleansing ceremonies — practices that many communities have not employed since before the war. Through drawing on age-old traditions of confession, apology and forgiveness, Fambul Tok has revived Sierra Leoneans’ rightful pride in their culture. Module 1: Understanding community healing 15 »