I'm not settled in the guest house of solace ministries, somewhat on the outside of the center of kigali. Its a very different place with a very different atmosphere. Its located on one side of a rough dirt road with only a few houses and faciltiies next to it. As I walk outside of the guest house - it has a gate which opens to the road - I see people who seem much more rural, or at least much less urban. Many women walking side by side in traditional dress, little children who run after me and say hello, just being friendly and curious, young men strolling along. It feels a bit like rural vermont, except for the foliage and the color of the soil, and of course the road isn't paved.
I had a very interesting conversation with an evangelical group who come here every year to work with and pray with surviving widows and orphans. I will skip the evangelical part of the conversation except to note the the group is called wholeness through christ (they are based in canada and have a website which strikes me as somewhat ironic). They said that the people they have talked to and worked with have lost any sense of what i would call social trust or deep meaning, and hence any sense of connected humanity, any source of positive emotion. (I'm translating loosely from their spiritual language to a more humanistic psychological one.) They feel that through their work in community this sense of a meaningful benevolent world can be restored, and that this is necessary for the more psychological kind of work that individual trauma therapists do to be effective.
I find them convincing, although I would quibble about the details of accepting jesus christ as my personal savior. What do find convincing is a need for spirituality and community as part of the healing process, and in Rwanda the spirituality is probably going to be Christian of some sort. I've also found the need for economic development that reaches them and gives them the resources to rebuild their lives. This includes all the microfinances that people talk about.
So I locate psychological work midway between microfinance and spirituality.
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Carl - I'm glad that you're well and that you seem to be getting on! It took me awhile to be able to comment, because it is difficult to do from my mobile. The commentary is quite interesting, thanks so much for sending it on. I'm looking forward to hearing about it in person over a long smoke sometime soon! Be well, Tom
ReplyDeleteI love that localizing of psychology! How extraordinary to find microfinance and spirituality as the end-points of any continuum....
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that the spirituality in Rwanda is likely to be Christian? What is the religious/spiritual tradition and/or history there? Does Islam have a role?
Wow, Carl! This certainly sounds different than the Okapi. I think it's wonderful and I'm sure challenging that you're experiencing some of the more rural environment. I also like your microfinance-spirituality spectrum. Certainly represents the multiple needs of the community and post complex trauma in general.
ReplyDeleteCarl - congratulations on everythg!!
ReplyDeleteLookg forward to your coming home.
L.