TACTICAL PRESENTATIONS

[back to main Liberia Training Workshop menu]

During the course of the four day workshop, eight tactical presentations were made. Below is an annotated list of these presentations, with links included to the full presentation itself.

Child and youth activities: a doorway for community engagement (PowerPoint, 789KB)
Presentation by Gudrun Kober (PEACE Center, Namibia)

The PEACE organization is based in Freedomland, Namibia, a poor community with a large number of migrant workers and few public services. Freedomland has only one community center for 750 people. Namibia has a long history of apartheid and colonialism, which has resulted in widespread learned helplessness and feelings of powerlessness among the community.

PEACE launched an outreach program to build connections among community members and find ways to address violence in a population that has no history of expecting psychological help. Rather than establishing a clinic and expecting people to come to the door, PEACE decided to use soccer as the entry point for community engagement. The interest of one PEACE volunteer was used to launch the initiative. Twice-weekly soccer coaching for children under twelve was offered. (So much interest was generated by the youth team, PEACE has since started a soccer team for adolescents and young men.)

At every training, a vehicle marked with the PEACE logo was present, along with a resource person. Soon people started to look for the van and ask questions about the other work that PEACE does. In one instance, a mother came up after a game and asked for advice because she and her son were always quarreling. Daily violence in the family emerged as a common issue. Parents often discipline their children by beating them and there is widespread violence against women. Because of the community support work, some women have now started to take a stand, saying, "Stop beating me or I will tell PEACE."

PEACE plans to establish a permanent presence in Freedomland so that people can walk to their premises rather than needing to take a taxi. This might be a PEACE Shack where an Alternative to Violence Program (AVP) and awareness activities can be conducted on a regular basis. PEACE has already included one woman from Freedomland in their AVP training and has been able to channel her energy into helping the community rather than letting her frustration lead to trouble.

PEACE has a number of other new initiatives planned. This includes a caregivers group for orphans and vulnerable children who have lost parents to AIDS: there is a twenty percent HIV infection rate in Freedomland. This year PEACE launched a 6-month after-school program for twelve traumatized children. The goal is to engage them in activities which will improve their social, emotional and cognitive skills. PEACE wants to expand this program. Outings for young people have been offered, including visits to a farm, municipal swimming pool, and parliament. Even at the age of nineteen, many have never been outside Freedomland before. These trips have given them a sense of other possibilities for their lives and their community.

By using soccer as an entry point, PEACE has been able to gain the trust of the community and is now in a position to help deal with trauma within the vulnerable population of Freedomland.

Human Rights Clubs in Schools (PowerPoint, 711KB)

Presentation by Dr. Charles Ntare (FACT, Rwanda)

The Forum for Activists against Torture (FACT) Rwanda, creates Youth Human Rights Clubs in the Rwandan school system. These clubs raise awareness of human rights issues and mobilize young people. They focus on sexual and gender-based violence, and torture, with an emphasis on children's rights. The Youth HR Clubs started in four secondary schools and expanded rapidly across the country. So far, FACT's youth program has worked with 227,417 school-going youth, and has continued to reach out to new schools.

In designing programs, FACT strives to take a conflict-sensitive approach. After an initial planning phase, a situation/stakeholder analysis is done. Meetings are held. Interviews with key actors in the community - such as the ministry of education, school leaders, and local authorities - are conducted. Members of the community become actively engaged through the process, in part by assisting organizers in developing the program.

This first phase is informed by a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methodology, which emphasizes the value of input from local people in the development of the projects that target them. Stakeholders provide insight into how they perceive and understand the issues that FACT addresses. By working in this way, FACT builds support from the beginning, creating project ownership among the intended beneficiaries.

In the second phase, teachers and parents receive training which empowers them with the knowledge and skills to benefit schoolchildren, beyond the intervention of an outside organization. Hopefully this will lead towards the long-term, sustainable social benefits of Youth Human Rights Clubs. This encourages collaboration with the schools, in addition to open communication with community stakeholders.

The decentralized framework of FACT allows autonomy to local administrators, with the result that each Youth Human Rights Club has its own unique activities, which may include such things as theatre and poetry. Through their own artistic endeavors, children learn and educate others. Club members are encouraged to develop their own proposals for the dissemination of preventive messages. An evaluation undertaken by program donors revealed impressive results. Evaluators noted the quality of students' creative expression, essay writing, and performance in drama.

FACT provides support in a number of areas. A toll-free phone line is available. Youth who call receive help in setting up the leadership structure for their Youth HR Club. While little financial assistance is possible, paper, pens, and paid compensation for secretarial work are available. Unfortunately, despite its successes, after 12 months FACT had to curb the project for lack of funding. In spite of this, FACT continues to receive action plans from various Youth HR Clubs, demonstrating the potential for growth of the program and the ability of clubs to be self-sufficient.

In addition to advocacy work, FACT strives to enhance the capacities of health service providers. The number of clients seeking counseling services has increased. FACT always provides counseling to those who request it and is working to expand these services through satellite centers. FACT's prevention efforts are designed to target different groups, including the police, the local defense, and female ex-combatants.

Empowering survivors to become healers now and forever (PowerPoint, 1.19MB)

Presentation by Seidu Swaray (CVT Liberia)

The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) trains peer counselors to provide mental health services to refugees in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Recent conflicts in those countries produced massive displacement of people in the region. Most refugees suffered or witnessed the infliction of some kind of atrocity upon themselves, their families and/or neighbors-including mutilations, amputations of limbs, the abduction of children and adults as soldiers or for forced labor, and horrendous sexual crimes.

With more than 300,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and more than 100,000 refugees from Liberia, staff and resources were far too limited to meet the mental health needs of those in the refugee camps. As a result, CVT began training refugees themselves as peer counselors or Psycho-Social Agents (PSAs). CVT also wanted to leave a cadre of people who could serve their community even if the agency was no longer present. Since the majority of refugees are women and children, CVT wanted to ensure that women had opportunities to become PSAs. Representation of all ethnic groups present in the refugee camps is also a consideration in the selection process.

The program blends "western" psychotherapy with local wisdom and understanding about trauma and recovery. The PSA training and supervision model is built around the provision of actual services and mental health interventions - from referrals and individual casework, to small groups and community-wide activities. The majority of interventions are done in small group therapy, which has proven to be an ideal setting for training.

The initial PSA training lasts from five to seven days. This training takes place outside of the refugee camp to provide the candidates with the opportunity to bond as a team, while learning the basic skills which they will need. Every PSA learns how the effects of war and torture are manifested in individuals, families and communities. Each PSA reflects on how they have been affected, as well as on the impact to their family and community.

Mental health professionals train PSAs in the concept, rationale, and need for: confidentiality, active listening, offering support, collaborative problem and solution identification, conducting follow-up, and basic skills in being and using an interpreter. (Because many languages may be spoken within one refugee camp, individuals may find themselves playing more than one role.) Additional skills include assessment and treatment of trauma victims.

There have been 120 Psycho-Social Agents (PSAs) "capacitated" since the beginning of the West African program in 1999. These PSAs, along with the expatriate mental health professionals, have provided direct service to 5,000 clients through individual counseling and small group therapy. In addition, there have been approximately 20,000 beneficiaries via community sensitization and large group activities.

Multi-media Communication Efforts for Public Outreach: The Experience of ACTV (PowerPoint, 793KB)

Presentation by Sharon Lamwaka (ACTV, Uganda)

As part of its advocacy and communications work, the African Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) has engaged in multimedia campaigns to build awareness of torture issues among targeted populations in Uganda. After completing a month-long radio campaign targeting policy makers, ACTV found that many of its own clients had been exposed to the radio messages. They used the demographic profile of their clients to design a broader media campaign targeting a younger (ages 20-35), less-educated group. One-minute radio spots featured a dramatized torture scene, followed by information about the Convention Against Torture and a message providing information about ACTV's services in Kampala and elsewhere. Using print media, ACTV continues to target higher-educated demographic groups, including refugees, security agents, and the donor community. Finally, ACTV has created 17-20 minutes television documentaries. Medical professionals discuss torture issues in these short films. Viewer feedback ("I saw you on TV!") has demonstrated the campaign's effectiveness.

Dealing with trauma through collective bridging activities (PowerPoint, 1.2MB), also (MS Word, 85KB)

Presentation by Miriam Fredericks (Trauma Center, South Africa)

The South Africa Trauma Center provided community support during the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) process. Staff at the Center worked with individuals who were giving testimony and formulating recommendations to make to the state. A support group program for torture survivors has now reached over 3,000 people.

In the aftermath of the Truth and Reconciliation process there has been disillusionment. The government was unable to deliver on the commitments which it made during the process of individual reparations. Many individuals who were promised concrete reparations - a house as compensation, for example - have received nothing. Although democracy has been established, many citizens still live in abject poverty.

Because of this, the Center shifted its focus to the tactic of collective, symbolic, healing memory work to deal with trauma. The Center's staff is responsible for this, with support from its Political Violence unit. There are two main ways of implementing the tactic: creating memory cloths and body mapping. In Africa storytelling is accepted and known, while psychotherapy is still stigmatized to some degree. These tactics combine storytelling/narrative therapy with art therapy. Both tactics are done in small groups.

In the memory cloth tactic, stories are embroidered or written on cloth. The preserves memories both for the children and for those who lived through these painful events. (This is similar to what Holocaust survivors have done; commemorating the horror in order to ensure that it never happens again.) Some people have even sewn their ID books on the cloth, in order to highlight their feelings of displacement. (In South Africa, an ID book, which contains photograph, fingerprints and bar code, is required to attend school, work, vote, etc.) One memory cloth created by a group of survivors has already been donated to Robben Island Museum. This cloth is over 300 meters long and contains written messages and memories from people who lived in District Six.

The body mapping tactic is also done in a group setting. Once again, the basis is storytelling, but this time the story is captured on the image of a body. Each participant lies on a board and someone draws the outline of their body on the board. They then paint the boards in order to tell their stories, giving them the opportunity to specifically identify where they were tortured. A shadow figure is also drawn, with representations of the people and places who provided support. The storytellers are referred to trained social workers and psychologists as well as support services such as massage therapy and psychiatry.

The Center has trained 45 professionals in ways of using collective, symbolic, memory work as a way to treat trauma. These include rehabilitation center staff; educational, health and social development professionals; and prosecutors, police, and medical personnel. As a result of the use of collective healing tactics, there has been a renewed commitment to the work of the Center. A conference commemorating the TRC process is planned. There is interest in building a commemorative site at the Center, which is housed at an old monastery. And efforts are being made to ensure that South Africa ratifies the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

Advocacy Journalism and Human Rights Protection (PowerPoint, 295KB)

Presentation by Victor Bwire (Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), Kenya)

The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) takes a three-pronged approach to fighting the use of torture in Kenya, combining rehabilitation, legal services, and advocacy journalism. IMLU began its anti-torture work by combining medical and legal services in order to support victims of torture and to demand justice for specific cases. The organization began its work during a period of national insurgency, when many Kenyans were arrested and died in custody. The government never took responsibility for these deaths or contacted the victims' families. In response, IMLU's founders decided to investigate, conducting post-mortem forensic analysis after any suspicious death reported while in custody, as well as contacting the victims' families and offering free services.

IMLU's individual support services are an integral part of the organization's work. A psychologist or mental health worker assists in the initial evaluation process and provides support. Health and support services are always provided, and every case is documented, even if the case is not appropriate for referral for legal services. Many of the cases that do not go to court will still benefit from media advocacy.

Most cases involve people from the impoverished rural areas, so IMLU asks for help from the public. Through talk shows, radio shows, IMLU's website, and other outlets, IMLU reaches members of the community who willingly offer services, goods, and funding. Public demonstrations of support, including letter-writing campaigns and picketing to demand action, are organized. Media exposure has heightened the profiles of specific cases, empowering the victims of violence and raising awareness about the prevalence of torture. As a result, more people are coming forward with cases of human rights abuses.

There have been overall improvements in the judicial system since IMLU's campaign started. The timeline for processing cases in the legal system has decreased from ten years to about two. Additionally, the government has instituted an open door policy in prisons, which allows people to enter facilities to visit inmates.

Working through a wide network of professional support from doctors, lawyers and journalists, IMLU handles over 1,000 cases of torture, injury, and other rights violations each year, as well as approximately 100 post-mortem cases. IMLU might pay expenses for transportation, accommodations, and related expenses, but professionals are not paid for their work. In terms of its work in the legal system, IMLU pays the administration costs for handling cases, including the forensic work and the legal services.

IMLU provides resources and support to its network of professionals. Training in international protocol and policy, as well as forensic investigation, is offered. A manual to assist doctors in handling torture cases will be available. A handbook for Kenyan journalists is also being prepared, which describes ways to use various media to increase awareness of torture. IMLU maintains close contact with its field workers, offering psychological support for staff who are often exposed to grief and violence. IMLU has been successful in opening treatment centers, which provide services on-site to torture victims, but the same level of legal and media advocacy services are not yet available everywhere.

Beneficiaries Committee (PowerPoint, 119KB)

Presentation by Tekeste Ayalew (RCVTE, Ethiopia)

The Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (RCVT) works to rehabilitate victims of torture and their immediate families, both medically and economically. Most recipients of care are Ethiopians who were tortured by the Eritrean government during the Ethio-Eritrean Conflict.

On December 3, 2004, the Beneficiaries Committee was established to raise awareness of the services offered by the Center and to develop outreach and engagement to the survivor community. The Beneficiaries Committee has eight members, six receive services from the Center and two are staff members. The six beneficiaries are chosen from the members of the Beneficiaries Idir. Most people receiving treatment at the Center currently live in one area and they have formed a Beneficiaries Idir. An idir is a self-help or fraternal organization to which individuals make financial contributions on a regular basis. The idir helps when its members have a crisis, for example, by providing financial assistance when a relative dies.

One of the first actions of the Beneficiaries committee, which meets on a weekly basis, was to establish a Medium Clinic at the Center. Free medical treatment and psychological counseling are offered through the Medium Clinic. Prior to its opening, victims had to travel to one of two government hospitals to see a volunteer doctor who was trained in the area of torture treatment. Before the Medium Clinic, about 75 people were receiving treatment. Afterwards, numbers rose to over 450. A significant increase was also seen in the number of clients receiving long-term counseling.

The Beneficiaries Committee raises awareness of the dehumanizing and degrading effects of torture through Coffee Ceremonies. A coffee ceremony is a hospitality ritual from the regional culture, which includes the roasting of the coffee beans, grinding them, and offering three servings of coffee to guests. In this case, the family of a survivor of torture convenes the ceremony, inviting neighbors to participate. Those who attend are encouraged to become actively involved in preventing torture, by hosting their own coffee ceremonies and participating in an on-going awareness program.

Active participation of beneficiaries in all aspects of the Center's work has improved the ability of the Center to design outreach programs. Using music, drama and storytelling techniques, beneficiaries raise awareness and involve a broader audience in torture prevention initiatives. The Beneficiaries Committee also ensures that the Center's work and intentions are understood by the government.

Developing a blue print for civil society organizations (PowerPoint, 117KB)

Presentation by Benjamin Tarnue (NACCSOL, Liberia). Tactic presentation prepared by Benjamin Tarnue and D. Diaffa Dennis Morris.

The National Coalition of Civil Society Organizations of Liberia (NACCSOL) is a growing consortium of about 100 civil society organizations in Liberia. Incorporated in 2004 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NACCSOL works to protect Liberian citizens from human rights abuses like intimidation, detention, or torture.

The strategy contributes to Liberia's democratization process through addressing a common agenda that encompasses the principle rights and rule of law. The tactic of developing a "blueprint" provides a concrete way in which civil society organizations can join forces to build a vibrant coalition in Liberia. Cecil Griffiths, President of LINLEA, learned about the tactic at the New Tactics International Symposium held in Turkey in 2004. This tactic was developed by the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos in Peru. (See Erika Bocanegra's tactical notebook Together We Are Stronger, also available in Spanish En Espanol, on the New Tactics website.)

NACCSOL has deliberately avoided duplicating what the other organizations do on their own, instead making use of their collective strength. Resources intended for the smooth running of the coalition have been well-distributed, channeled, and coordinated to the programs. The decision-making process used is itself important. The principles are: discuss, share, debate, arrive at consensus; representation and participation; one vote for each organization; and allowing all groups to bring issues forward to be discussed.

[Back to Liberia Training Workshop main menu]

• Methodology
• Liberia Workshop Events and Participants
• Workshop Participants - Public Day Event and 4-day Intensive Workshop