BUJUMBURA September 8th (ABP) – Trauma can be healed, once properly treated and people in the neighborhood have traumas due to the war that Burundi went through, indicated Mrs. Joyeuse Nahigejeje, from the Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Service (THARS), in an awareness and information workshop on trauma and transitional justice, held for administrative officials of the Kanyosha, Kabezi, Nyabiraba, Mutambu and Mutimbuzi communes, social workers in those communes and religious leaders, the Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
In an interview granted to the Burundian Press Agency (ABP), she indicated that it is part of THARS’ activities to inform them by raising awareness among those communal authorities of the existence of these traumas and that THARS in collaboration with MIPAREC, Impunity Watch and the newspaper YAGA, in its project “Parlons-en burundais” is there to support people affected by trauma and invite them as privileged partners to collaborate.
She made it known that the care of those people is done through councelling, by attentively listening to those people.
Transitional justice comes in the search for the truth about what happened, which could be at the origin of the trauma. Exchanging and having a dialogue about what happened in the community or in the country relieves the traumatized person.
That is done between adults and young people, the adults testify about what happened in their community, the young people listen and the hope is that what happened does not happen again.
When it becomes necessary to repair the harm caused to victims of trauma, continued Mrs. Nahigejeje, it is done informally in the community. People come together and decide to build a house, build a bridge which will be a sign of community repair.