Rwanda Resilience and Grounding organization has started mental health rehabilitation and community integration with ex-prisoners and genocide survivors in terms of building trust, community identification and enhancement of mental wellness.
In this intervention, Community resilience model skills training is offereded in both groups in some setting and sharing a resilience and laughter practice that aimed to build their resilience, social cohesion and trust among them.
After training, one participant said “ I am ex-prisoners of genocide and I had a shame for what I did during the genocide. I was leaving in self-stigma and suffer from a lot of relapses and bad dreams for what I saw and did during the 1994 genocide .however since training, I was able to relax and bring back my confidence. For example, yesterday, when we were doing intervention practices by using the model (CRM skill). I remember how I was supporting genocide survivors to release stress and enhance well-being. It was nice and it increases my trust and my confidence. Imagine, I am supporting the one who I made a crime. I am so happy that at least, there are positive things I am doing for her. I thank you and thank the government of Rwanda for this trainings, I wish you can extend them to all country because many people are living with self-stigma (ex : ex-prisoners and their families). I believe when they get this training, it can help them to increase their well being, sleeping and confidence.
Another beneficial said” I have survived 1994 genocide against Tutsi. My husband and 4 children were killed during the genocide. I was living in fear, a flashback of memories of genocide and every night I heard people knocking on my door and I told my son to go and look at those people when he reached there he found nothing there. However, on the third day of this training, I started to think positive and start to have a conversation with those men who did genocide. I am feeling a little good and you see I was laughing and giving examples during training. I am now aimed to extend these skills to my family and my neighbour
After 5 days of training, the group composed of ex-prisoners and survivors made a club that will help them to meet regularly. They choose themselves a coordinator and assistance coordinator so that they can keep meeting in their own time they choose and their own places. RRGO staff will keep visit them during the meeting date and see how they doing CRM skills practice and how they are helping each other.
Last not least, they are aimed to extend the skills they gat to their family because “Even these skills will first benefit from my children. Even them, they can gain because my daughter lives in fear and nightmare. I hope she will benefits and back in the present moment” said genocide survivors.
RRGO with partners will keep extending and proving recovery and resiliency interventions that will bring back well being, confidence, Love, trust and mental capacity to strive for well-being.
This project is targeting genocide survivors, ex-prisoners of genocide, teachers and local leaders from some village.
