Every week, in the 11 districts of Rwanda, there is a Sevota meeting. Every story is different. But they move forward together and share their experience. Role-playing and self-healing workshops follow. These are simple gestures like patting your face and hand, singing a song or dancing to push away destructive thoughts. Today they meet in Godelieve’s home village.
We meet Mukandori Seraphim.
“I’m from this village I’ve always lived here. I never imagined this could happen, because we lived in harmony with the other Rwandans.
I am a survivor of the 1994 genocide. I am the only child survivor out of a dozen people. I was traumatized and I went every month to the psychiatric hospital for consultations. You’ve seen for yourself the miles you’ve travelled. For me, it’s difficult to leave here and go to Kigali. So I don’t always keep my appointments and take my medication.
Today my trauma persists and has many effects on my health. The doctors have done some tests and have told me about irreversible mental pathologies.
I spent three months in a pit, I was buried alive. This side of my body was paralysed from head to toe, fortunately the vital organs were not affected.
But the child I gave birth to during this period also experiences trauma.
Today he’s in an autism institute in Remera. My life was destroyed even though we now live together.
It’s thanks to Sevota that I got closer to the others, that brought us into the group of Rwandans, of the others, and that we started to live again. They gave us the small livestock and that’s how I came out of my isolation.”
Every woman has her story, every woman has her problems.
To say that trauma can be healed, no, I’m dealing with it instead. I encouraged the women to give their testimonies so that it could be useful to other women.
And when you’re in crisis you know how to exercise to regain the serenity of heart and mind.
Photograph © Chris Schwagga
In the next episode, we will see how Godelieve set up her exercises.
Anne Pastor
