compromised by their complicity in political violence. Given their historical stature, however, traditional leaders are a necessary component of the reconciliation process. Tree of Life The work of the Tree of Life (ToL) organisation illustrates the potential for innovative community-based reconciliation processes tailored to the Zimbabwe crisis. ToL began conducting workshops with Zimbabwean victims of political violence in South Africa in 2003, and has since conducted workshops across Zimbabwe, focusing on hotspots of political conflict in both urban and rural areas. ToL workshops take place over two to three days, consisting of a series of circles (dare in Shona) that are organised around the analogy between individuals in a community and trees in a forest. Participants discuss their roots (ancestry), trunk (childhood), leaves (important features) and fruit (family and future plans), and explore the benefits of diversity and collective action. Working with one facilitator to four participants, the dare agrees at the outset on rules of conduct, including the use of a “talking piece.” 8 Participants, who are typically selected by community bodies rather than ToL and may include both perpetrators and survivors, share meals and where possible share accommodations. The workshop includes discussion contrasting hierarchical and cooperative forms of power and, crucially, a “trauma circle” in which participants are invited to describe their experiences. Contributions often include a wide range of experiences including familial traumas and historical grievances as well as political violence, reducing the political stakes of the workshop. ToL has successfully maintained a neutral political position in the eyes of ZANU (PF) by framing its work as “community healing and empowerment,” disavowing any justice agenda. Indeed, in some districts, government District Health Officers have endorsed ToL workshops. ToL provides effective and cost-efficient means of beginning the process of community reconciliation. ToL has leveraged its minimal staff, extending its range by forming a broad network of partner organisations that run the gamut from religious to business associations. ToL trains members of these partner organisations to conduct workshops alongside ToL facilitators, increasing ToL’s reach and legitimacy within communities, and allowing organisations to adapt ToL strategies to fit their constituencies. Facilitated by Zimbabwean survivors of political violence, ToL workshops do not require clinically trained counselors, and reach more survivors than individual counseling. The workshops outcomes deserve further documentation, but research to date indicates their efficacy in reducing self-reported levels of trauma, and participants frequently describe a renewal of community ties and trust attributed to ToL. 9 At the close of a workshop I observed, 8 A “talking piece” is an object held by the current speaker in a circle, requiring that other participants listen without interruption until the object is replaced by the speaker in the centre of the circle. 9 On follow-up, one third of participants had reduced self-reported trauma levels to below clinical levels; see “The Tree of Life: a community approach to empowering and healing survivors of torture in Zimbabwe,” Tony Reeler et al, Torture, vol. 19 no. 3, 2009. See also “A Research Note on the Effectiveness of the Tree of Life: Report prepared for the Tree of Life by Tony Reeler, Research and Advocacy Unit,” Harare: Research and Advocacy Unit, 2009. Oxford Transitional Justice Research Working Paper Series 4