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Rwandans have been engaged in reconstruction and reconciliation initiatives since the end of the 1994 Tutsi genocide. How these efforts help perpetrators and bystanders (from the Hutu group) to disengage from harmdoing and work toward the peace and well-being of their collective communities remains understudied. This paper presents part of a research study that examined the role of sharing personal stories through the Healing of Life Wounds (HLW), a community-based program bringing together Tutsi and Hutu community members for mutual healing. Data utilized in the paper draw from individual interviews of 10 participants after HLW workshops, along with observation of 23 participants who completed the intervention, and self-reflective notes generated by the first author. Dialogic performance narrative method was used to analyze and interpret the data. The study results pointed to attitudes negatively affecting social relations and overall well-being of individuals and community functioning. The participants described being nyamwigendaho "minding their own business," an attitude that limited interactions and emotional connections between survivors and nonsurvivors and even within in-groups. The participants found that the HLW program offered them the tools and the space that allowed them to challenge themselves individually and collectively to confront issues that divided them. This process facilitated the development of new understandings of the shared suffering of both Hutus and Tutsis and the roles they each play in inflicting this suffering and commitments to mutual healing. The study results highlight the importance of engaging members of opposing groups in disengaging from the legacy of collective harmdoing and its consequent emotions in order to build sustainable peace.

Substantial organizational change in many health institutions has eliminated profession-based departments and replaced them with program management structures. This article aims to explore practitioners' perceptions of their professional work in a large urban centre for addiction and mental health that has undergone such change. Seventy-six practitioners from six professions participated in focus groups that were transcribed and analyzed. Practitioners' perceptions about their professional competence, performance, development, and job satisfaction were affected by three interrelated factors: available supervision from experts who validate practitioners' subjective work experiences and provide population-specific knowledge for effective interventions; teams that provide a home base and support through positive interpersonal relations, collaboration and informal feedback; and organizations and managers who provide assistance and training while expecting quality performance and productivity. Effective clinical and organizational leaders manage tensions between providing supportive environments and expecting accountability throughout the workplace.

Key factors that facilitate intergroup dialogue and psychosocial healing in Rwanda: a qualitative study Re¤ gine Uwibereyeho KingPsychosocial interventions in many post con£ict settings, including Rwanda, have failed to facilitate dialogue between members of con£icting groups while aiming to rebuild the broken social fabric that individuals and communities depend on for sustainable peace and development. Locally initiated programmes that do engage con£icting parties in dialogue are often overlooked, and therefore unable to inform interventions.To begin to ¢ll this gap, this article presents a qualitative study of key factors that facilitated intergroup dialogue and mutual healing between Hutus and Tutsis through the Healing of Life Wounds, a community based mental health programme initiated in Rwanda. Data were collected from 23 participants who attended the programme as part of this investigation and includes pre and post intervention interviews, as well as notes from participant and researcher' s observations. Findings indicate that openness to change, a safe space for sharing, an understanding facilitator and supportive material resources were all factors that encouraged participants to share their personal stories and engage in acts of mutual support. Participants began to integrate positive patterns of relationships within the group, and in their communities. The implications for post con£ict rebuilding are also discussed.Key factors that facilitate intergroup dialogue and psychosocial healing in Rwanda: a qualitative study

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