Imagine healing from the atrocities of war without punishment, prisons, or revenge. Imagine demonstrating a new way of being, based on the strength and wholeness of individuals and communities. Imagine working with villages devastated by war and disease, where those remaining are not seen as victims, but are seen as creative leaders with the power to rebuild.
A twenty year project in Sierra Leone has demonstrated that communities can heal themselves. The project sought to heal the damage from a terrible civil war, followed by a devastating Ebola outbreak. It was led by Sierra Leonean John Caulker, and funded by Mainer Libby Hoffman.
Hoffman has just released her new memoir, The Answers Are There, Building Peace from the Inside Out, which describes the project in detail. What an extraordinary journey! Although most of Sierra Leone is impoverished and has a low literacy rate, her people can teach us a great deal about the power of community.
The Sierra Leone story struck a resonating chord within me. For many years, I worked with a facilitation method called Open Space Technology. Using this method, I established a simple process, and then allowed groups to self-organize and determine their own direction. The hosting organization provided the space and the hardware (flip charts, markers, sticky dots, electronic voting, etc). I provided a simple outline for the day. The groups selected their own leaders, and sorted out the direction they wanted to go.
The Sierra Leone project was similar. The project there was called Fambol Tok (family talk). Villages were invited to self-organize, with a suggested timeline provided by Fambol Tok staff. The central feature of Fambol Tok was a healing ceremony around a bonfire, organized by village leaders. In this safe space, perpetrators of war atrocities were invited to come forward and confess. Then they would ask village members for forgiveness. This process was repeated in 250 villages across the country. Many tears were shed as forgiveness was almost always given.
The thinking was that if communities could forgive and accept estranged members back into the community, then everyone could move on. This approach proved a great success.
Once relationships were repaired, the communities were ready and motivated to rebuild. They built schools, improved water and food supplies, and found new ways to support themselves. Those who had committed crimes often worked the hardest, as a way of making amends for what they had done.
Twenty years later, following a focused and deliberate effort, Sierra Leone has healed. “Peace Mothers”, which were originally local women’s groups, is now a national organization assisting villages as they rebuild. In 2018, the Fambol Tok model of governing and development was adopted as official national policy, and codified in law.
Across the globe, people are lamenting the loss of trust in institutions, and the rise of authoritarianism. Democracy is being described as a victim under attack. Little attention is being given to placing trust in people and communities.
But as Sierra Leone has shown, communities are excellent at making decisions and charting their own path forward. They just need to be given an invitation, the freedom to organize, and a bit of basic support. How might these principles be used to restore communities around the world? This is a question worth pondering.