Our Impact - Breaking Cycles of Violence

We have so far conducted 15 community healing circle meetings in 7 hotspot areas in Mt. Elgon. As a result, 79 affected men and elders, 99 affected women and 88 affected youth have started their healing journey: letting go the dark past and moving on.

The five-day community healing circle meetings have led to a great impact in healing, restoring hope, repairing relationships and transforming the conflicts among the affected people in the communities.

The first two days are usually the most difficult as we share and discuss our traumatic experiences – “our torn baskets”.

Healing starts taking place during the third day where we start observing changes among the participants: ease and confidence in opening up, testimonies of circle participants being able to rest and sleep, looking kempt, and confidence and gaining courage to let go and forgive. These are an indication they are making a journey towards their own healing.

Towards the end, we hear testimonies such as: “I can now talk to my children in a good way without anger.”

There is always great laughter unlike the first two days which are characterised by mourning and grieving.

Download Our Reports

SCCoDev - Cheptonon healing circle meeting for widows (Women Circle)

Cheptonon community healing circle meeting for affected women

SCCoDev - Kapkirok Elder’s circle meeting

Kapkirok community healing circle meeting for men and elders

SCCoDev - Cheptonon youth circle meeting

Cheptonon community healing circle for youth

Our Methodology

We use circle process, SACRED SPACES FOR TRAUMA AWARENESS AND HEALING. A circle meeting known as “kokwet” in the local Sabaot language was a highly respected space used by elders to discuss important matters affecting the community. We took this important tool of dialogue for the elders and it is working very well for our healing process. Many circle attendants relate to this process and have high respect for the circles during the meeting.

Use of Images, Biblical Stories and Folklore

We use portraits/images to create awareness on what trauma is, the types of trauma, impact of traumatic events, triggers and coping strategies. They help affected people relate to their own traumatic experiences and how they are impacted.

Sacredness Of The Meetings: What Makes These Spaces Transformative?

It is the manner in which the circles are handled that make them transformative:
  • Choice of Venue: carefully selected –churches. They are respected places of worship, and open to everyone irrespective of ones stand in the society including those perceived as perpetrators.
  • Pitching the meeting high spiritually: starting and ending with prayer, ensure the presence of a Pastor who leads meditation during opening and closing sessions. Letting go of painful past for all, victims and perpetrators may entail re-establishing their relationship with their God. This is because traumatic experiences sometimes impact us negatively spiritually.
  • Humility starts with the facilitators. Communities in conflicts zones are the most marginalized and denigrated. Humility on the part of facilitators sends a message to the affected people that they are valued and important. For the perpetrators who are treated as social misfits in the society, treating them with humility is a way of embracing them and in a way re-humanizing them.
  • Agreed upon norms for participating in the circle: Active listening without judging, respect for each other’s opinion and emotions, confidentiality, and sensitivity.
  • Space for reflection and meditation. This is done every morning where circle attendants are free to share their feelings, and the evening as part of the closing ceremony.

The STAH Program - Mt. Elgon

“Affected circle participants healed and able to forgive each other”
The STAH Program in Mt. Elgon is creating and holding safe and trusted spaces for both individual and communal healing and reconciliation for most affected women, youth and men in the region. These are still living with trauma as a result of violent conflicts that occurred especially in 2006-2008 and 2017-2018. Healing circle meetings are held for five days with a group of 20 circle participants. As they are taken through trauma awareness, the circle participants start to open up and share candidly their traumatic experiences in order to confront, process and let go the dark past. As they journey into healing, victims forgive their perpetrators, perpetrators ask for forgiveness and as far as it possible both reconcile in the process of social healing.
SCCoDev - Cheptonon healing circle meeting for widows (Women Circle)

Rekindling the Hope

What violence does is to rob its victims of hope in life. The people we usually meet during the first two days are angry, with less hope and people who have given up in life and on their families.

The people we usually part with at the end of the 5 days’ sessions are people full of hope and ready to dare to dream again. So, we usually end on a high note being celebrated by our circle participants.

What an honor!

Circle participants celebrating and showing appreciation

Our Circles

We create and hold healing, livelihood and dialogue circles.
Our Circles

SCCoDev

Shalom Centre for Counselling and Development (SCCoDev), is a registered NGO in Kenya that is creating and holding trusted and transformative spaces for healing and reconciliation, and promotion of sustainable livelihoods in affected communities.

Our Organisation

Support Us

Do you wish to adopt a healing, dialogue or livelihood circle? Please contact us.

Follow Us

© 2021 – SCCoDev