Today, more than 27 years have passed since the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, a violent tragedy that not only left over a million innocent lives dead, but also has shattered social cohesion, trust, and unity among Rwandans. The effects of the genocide still linger on, affecting also young people who did not experience the horrendous events themselves. In 2005, community based sociotherapy was introduced in Rwanda to help people better deal with the consequences of the genocide and its aftermath. Sociotherapy soon became known as Mvura Nkuvure, meaning ‘I heal you while you heal me’. Mvura Nkuvure brings people together in groups of 12-15 people. Throughout the journey of 15 weekly sessions, group participants are guided by two facilitators (sociotherapists) to share daily life experiences, learn from each other, and support one another in dealing with daily stressors and legacies of the past. They practice what they gained from the group sessions in their family and community, becoming role models for others in their living environment. As noted by Diogene Karangwa, the Project Coordinator of Mvura Nkuvure project, “The Mvura Nkuvure project is a psychosocial intervention which uses a group as a therapeutic medium, focusing on the re-establishment of social relationships within families and the community at large.” Lucie Nzaramba, the Executive Director of Community Based Sociotherapy (CBS) Rwanda (the NGO that implements community-based sociotherapy in Rwanda) emphasizes that apart from enhancing social cohesion and providing mental health support, sociotherapy also contributes to reconciliation and peacebuilding. “Sociotherapy helps survivors, perpetrators and their families to recover relationships that were destroyed, rebuilding trust and strengthening human dignity in their daily social interactions,” she comments. “Sociotherapy groups often decide to remain together after the 15-session journey, frequently initiating a range of economic activities to develop themselves.” CBS Rwanda implements community-based sociotherapy in mainly communities, schools, prisons, and refugee camps. It is working at the nexus of mental health, psychosocial support and peacebuilding by using local resources and knowledge that is available in people’s social environments. “I was about to commit suicide. I had no mental safety and I hated to be in social gatherings. But thanks to Mvura Nkuvure I now feel free to socialize and attend social events in my community. I feel confident and safe again.” – Sociotherapy participant, descendant of a genocide perpetrator, Nyabihu district. Key objectives over the past years are supporting genocide survivors to recover from past trauma, mitigating the negative aspects of the intergenerational legacies of the genocide, and facilitating the reintegration of genocide perpetrators after their release from prison in their families and communities. “When attending Mvura Nkuvure, we are sitting together, talking to each other, and sharing emotions related to painful experiences. We do this despite our different historical backgrounds. We feel liberated …” – said another Sociotherapy participant, Gasabo district. The NGO conducts a range of research to make well-informed decisions for its day-to-day operations, and as of now, it has graduated up to 13,574 community members from prisoners in last three years. Nevertheless, Nzaramba noted intergenerational trauma as one of the surging cases of mental health concerns in Rwanda. “What parents went through is being transferred to their off springs. It is difficult to explain how young people who didn’t experience genocide are currently showing the symptoms of trauma,” she pointed out. This trauma is observed manifesting in different malfunctioning behaviours, anger, isolation, ideas of revenge, etc. All these constitute the legacy of the genocide, which may, in some cases, even result in suicide, she added. Since the establishment in 2005, the subsequent Mvura Nkuvure programmes have registered many stories of positive change, including people forgiving those who killed their entire families. “But we still meet challenges of perpetrators who do not want to point out where they buried the remains of those they killed, which often daunts genocide survivors,” Nzaramba recalled. Mvura Nkuvure was born in 2005 in Gicumbi district of the Northern Province, the door of the liberation struggle, coinciding with the introduction of the Gacaca courts. It was soon recommended by the former National Unity and Reconciliation Commission to be expanded to Bugesera in 2008, due to its effectiveness in reconciling and building social cohesion. From 2013 onwards its implementation spread to other regions of Rwanda, financially supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the European Union. Community-based sociotherapy in general targets people whose lives have been disrupted by violent conflicts, genocide, natural disasters, and ongoing stressors in their aftermaths. From Rwanda it has travelled to other countries in Africa; to subsequently Burundi, DRC, Liberia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan where its activities are implemented by its partners.
