Fambul Tok Analysis

Fambul Tok (“Family Talk”) is a face-to-face community or publicly owned program that brings together victims and perpetrators of the violence in Sierra Leone’s civil war through ceremonies that are rooted in the indigenous traditions of the villages that were affected by the war (Rich, 2013). It provides Sierra Leonean inhabitants with the opportunity to come to terms with what occurred during the war, to experience healing, to dialogue, and to chart a new and peaceful path forward – together (Rich, 2013).

Launched in 2008, Sierra Leone’s Fambul Tok is built upon the “family talk” tradition of resolving and discussing problems within the security or safety of a family circle (Rich, 2013). The program functions at the village level to help

communities form and organize ceremonies that include traditional cleansing ceremonies and truth-telling bonfires, practices not were not employed since before the civil war (Rich, 2013). Through drawing on ancient practices and traditions of apology, forgiveness, and confession, Fambul Tok has revitalized Sierra Leoneans’ l pride in their culture.

Fambul Tok exemplifies the most leading-edge “accompaniment” models of partnership and methods of consultative program design– between outside and in-country organizations, as well as between the communities of implementation and implementing organizations. The program is structuring and shaping community ownership at every single level. By this means, it illustrates a new path for an international community in post-conflict re-building and reconstruction.

Fambul Tok comes from the understanding that reconciliation is a procedure or process and not a one-time event which means that the program works with groups and communities on a long-term basis (Rich, 2013). It guarantees full community engagement, primarily through consultations and meetings to determine whether individuals are ready to settle, and subsequently through community-led arrangements and outreach for the ceremonies (Rich, 2013).

This community-healing process of forgiveness and reconciliation is designed to address the origins of conflict at the local level. The work helps individuals that were affected by war to reflect on the past and so move forward in ways that prevent or avert the renewal of aggressions. Through grounding reconciliation in customary practices, it also aids in creating healthy communities that are capable of building and creating new foundations of peace (Caulker, n.d).

The process is inspired by the belief that each individual has the goodness, capacity, and power to contribute to society in healthy and helpful ways (Caulker, n.d). Fambul Tok thus works to support community and individual healing through traditional practices, and with the aid of indigenous leaders who can provide moral support and guidance in the process of forgiveness and reconciliation. Through doing all the above mentioned, peace may or can be achieved amongst the communities.

After going through numerous additional information regarding the Fambul Tok, little or no negative information was obtained when it came to the countries efforts in improving the level of peace between the people. The process has many positive reviews and feedback which indicates success. Peace takes time with the risk of never achieving the organizations initial goals. Communities were directly targeted with plausible methods. They still have a long way to go, but so far it looks very promising.

Fambul Tok and the South African TRC

When merely referring to information obtained from additional resources it is quite evident that South Africa still has a very long way to go. When comparing the two peace processes, Fambul Tok has achieved more than out country’s peace process. The government of Sierra Leone has put great effort in addressing the people of their country. They provided many resources in order to help the inhabitants through engaging with the local communities. Guidance and help was provided through ceremonies and even local leaders providing assistance. With South Africa’s TRC I found more complaints than success. Peace is still absent in Southern Africa when it comes to different cultures. The TRC provided many suggestions on what should be done to improve our country but little has been met. Yes, Apartheid is gone and blacks can do just as much as the white individuals but that does not mean that the black culture have obtained peace. There are still racial conflict present due to the difficulty of letting go and forgiveness.

South Africa needs to follow in the footsteps of Fambul Tok in order to improve. Our government should follow up on their promises and take the effort to personally involve themselves in the communities. Organizations have been implemented to further black empowerment but this led to white oppression due to the fact that they generally struggle when it comes to employment. South Africa is caught up in an endless cycle of struggle. Peace is a big problem among individuals due to the lack of trust in our government and with one another. We need to find a middle line where everyone is equal and happy. If the one race is placed before another it creates conflict and friction which delays peace development.

What I have learned from peace

I learned that we cannot live an authentic or genuine life if we do not make peace with who we are as individuals.

We cannot be the soldier whom goes to battle when he has not resolved the war he currently has with himself. The amusing thing about peace is that even though we are in its presence we can be unaware of its current existence. We feel so at ease and serene with ourselves, we sometimes forget to say “thank you” to peace or it.

We as a society have to learn to love ourselves unconditionally. We have to know that peace resides within all of us, but then again we need to be without a facade. Authentic life and peace go together. We cannot only have the one without the other. I can follow or pursue the path of neuropsychology, but without peace, I am merely living a life. Nevertheless, whenever I walk in the underground as a free woman with peace by my side, I shall always emerge on the escalator whilst breathing an authentic life

True peace walks hand in hand with justice. Peace is not simply the fragile exhaustion that arises in the aftermath of conflict or the absence of war, relationships broken, when lives have been torn apart, homes demolished and infrastructures destroyed. Rather, the God-given peace that He desires for us is built on justice, where everyone and everything on earth is in a working relationship with each other and can obtain their God-given

potential.

Conclusion

While the South African truth commission can contribute greatly toward dealing with past human rights abuse and conflict through their recommendations and processes, they remain insufficient mechanisms for guiding societies toward viable and sustainable peace.

The complications of dealing with questions concerning human rights and past conflict in Southern Africa demonstrates the complications involved in altering a society. Given the present social and structural concerns and inequalities in Southern Africa, the degree to which the TRC has affected the countries social transformation and consolidated peace and harmony cannot yet be determined and, at best, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission may be defined as part of an extensive and ongoing process.

Fambul Tok in Sierra Leone attempt at creating peace was quite successful. Like South Africa, it still faces some obstacles when it comes to forgiveness. Past violence is not something that can be forgotten overnight especially if it presented itself through a civil war. Sierra Leones conflict was quite shorter than South Africa’s oppression which may contribute to the increased or faster improvement of the countries level of peace. Targeting the local communities with traditional “remedies” and ceremonies is, in my opinion, a very effective way when targeting emotional

distress.