In January 2008, after intense post-election violence in Kenya that killed over 1000 people and injured and displaced tens of thousands more, PeacePundit posted an open letter to the Kenyan people to stop the violence. The violence has settled down — possibly only simmering under the surface until the next election according to the book It’s Our Turn to Eat by Michela Wrong.
Fortunately, there is a movement to bring peace and reconciliation to the Kenyan population. One person involved in that is Heidi Pidcoke, an American who has been working on development projects in Kenya for many years. Recently, Heidi turned her attention to helping Kenyans heal the social wounds that the violence caused and inoculate the society against similar violence in the future. The following letter from Heidi to her supporters describes her work in this area and how she got started doing it.
Letter from Heidi Pidcoke to her Supporters
February 28, 2010
Hello my dear ones,
I realized in speaking with many of you when I was in the US in November that not many are clear about what I’m up to these days. So let me fill you in. Three recent developments came together to guide me toward my current activity.
The first development occurred in 2008, when I attended the International Gathering of the Alternatives to Violence Program. I heard about the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) Program that had been started by AVP facilitators in Rwanda to address the trauma and the division between the Hutus and the Tutsis who were now needing to live together in community. I was very moved by the intention to bring trauma-healing to those communities that didn’t have access to mental health personnel. Just after the International Gathering, the HROC program started being implemented in the Western Kenya region where conflict has been present since Moi was president.
After the post-election violence in Kenya, when many Alternatives to Violence (ATV) workshops were held in the slums of Nairobi, I heard an interesting story at one ATV workshop. A young man confessed that he and some of his friends had each been given KSH 10,000 (about US $150) to burn several houses down. On the way to doing this, while chaos was erupting all over the slums, he stopped and said to his friends, “Why should we kill for someone else?” They kept the money and didn’t burn the houses down. After hearing this I thought, “How do we make this young man’s reaction more the norm rather than the exception?”
The third piece of the puzzle was the ongoing training of local mental health professionals here in Nairobi in a trauma-healing technique: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). I helped organize an EMDR training session and arranged for psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and counselors to attend.
Last July, I met Patrick Mureithi, a Kenyan documentary film maker who recently released a documentary called “Icyizere” showing a HROC workshop in a rural community in Rwanda. As we talked, he spoke about wanting to integrate HROC and EMDR. I responded “That’s my dream!” — that is what coalesced for me based on the three developments described above. Hearing Patrick say this felt like confirmation that this is what I should be doing.
Next, Theoneste (Theo) Bizimana, who had been working with HROC in Rwanda since the beginning, moved to Nairobi to complete a Masters in Counselling Psychology. A few months after he moved here, we hired him as the Coordinator of the HROC program in Nairobi. The EMDR trainers completed their training and returned to Nairobi, so Theo was able to become trained as a trauma counselor. Finally, one of the original architects of the HROC program who knows Theo very well was passing through Nairobi, and we were able to discuss how to adapt the program to this context, to allow participants in the HROC workshop to get EMDR training for a nominal fee and more fully access the healing they need personally.
So, in December and January, Theo organized the first two basic three-day workshops for 55 participants. Coincidentally, I had just returned from a two-week Global Mental Health Course in Italy, where I had been given an important and validated evaluation test developed at Harvard: The Harvard Trauma Checklist. This meant we could ascertain whether the HROC workshops are successful in reducing participants’ levels of traumatization. In late January, two advanced three-day workshops were held with the help of another Rwandese HROC facilitator who traveled for two days by bus to Nairobi for the workshops. Some participants had already had EMDR training and therefore understood more deeply the meaning of trauma-healing.
Of the 35 participants who took the two advanced workshops, 15 were selected to be trained as trainers. Yesterday afternoon, I attended the last two hours of the six-day training. I heard from one man how much the program and the ability to get almost free counseling has transformed his life. This is supported by the evaluations which show that in 98% of participants their level of trauma has gone down when comparing their trauma scores before and after each three-day workshop.
There was an incredible level of bonding and commitment in the room yesterday afternoon and I am excited to be able to see the vision of people being healed coming to fruition. I told the participants that my overarching goal in promoting health and healing was to have many more people make the same choice as the young man who had said, “No I won’t do your killing for you.”
My vision is that in healing of the divisions, hurt, resentments, anger and hate that currently exist, far fewer people will be susceptible to the politicians’ manipulations in the next election of 2012. Furthermore, my prayer is that those who are living with the consequences of trauma can be freed to live more fulfilling lives that generate peace in this country that so needs it.
In Quaker Meeting this morning we heard about building trust. I am thrilled to be part of a trust building process that increases the peace and healing in this very troubled land. Thanks to all of you who have made this a possibility and continue to support me on my journey here in Kenya.
Blessings and peace,
Heidi
