Fambul Tok – creole for ‘Family Talk’ – allows community members to explore the root causes violence and conflict and restore dignity to those affected by the violence.  While there are local adaptations, Fambul Tok includes the following components in the programme developed by Forum of Conscience:

• Truth-telling bonfire. Held during the evening, victims and offenders are invited to come forward and tell their stories to their friends and neighbours. This may be accompanied by singing or dancing.
• Offering and Receiving Forgiveness. During the time of story-telling, offenders may ask their victims for forgiveness. If the victims are prepared to do so, they may offer forgiveness.
  
• Ritual Cleansing. The morning following the truth-telling bonfire, community leaders hold a ‘cleansing ceremony’ drawing upon local traditions. Some of these ceremonies have not been conducted since before the civil war.

Since a single event can not resolve or heal all the problems in a community, Forum of Conscience staff and community leaders are developing follow-up initiatives to keep communication going. For example, they suggest that communities using Fambul Tok designate a ‘peace tree’ after the ceremony as a place for similar meetings when new conflict issues arise. Other follow-up activities have included:

• sports events
• youth recording the stories of community members for broadcast on local radio
• farms on which reconciled individuals work side-by-side for the good of the community

Prior to launching the programme, Forum of Conscience undertook four months of community consultations across Sierra Leone’s fourteen districts. These consultations involved a wide array of groups affected by the violence, including victims, ex-combatants, women, youth, religious leaders, cultural leaders, and local officials. Their task was to discuss and assess local readiness and need for a reconciliation process.  In response to the overwhelming consensus that people are ready for reconciliation, a pilot project began in March 2008, in the Kailahun district, significant because it was where the first shots were fired in the civil war.

Now that the pilot project has come to an end, Forum of Conscience intends to launch Fambul Tok nationwide in early 2009. Local reconciliation committees consisting of respected elders, women, youth and religious leaders are working to pave the way for the Fambul Tok in their communities. This work includes identifying the local processes or traditions that should be included in the process and educating residents about the process and the value of addressing past harms.

Forum for Conscience developed ‘Fambul Tok’ with financial and research support from the U.S. based organization Catalyst for Peace. Other partners include the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.

Correction: 1 November 2008

In the original article, RJ Online did not fully explain the relationship between Catalyst for Peace and Forum for Conscience. The following explanation was provided by Catalyst for Peace.

The relationship between Forum of Conscience and Catalyst for Peace is one of the hallmarks of this program, embracing a distinctly different approach to Western-based engagement with African issues, as well as a break from standard funder-recipient relationships. Catalyst for Peace, a U.S.-based foundation, works from the perspective of recognizing and supporting African-based answers and initiatives, rather than trying to dictate Western-style programs. In joining together to create and develop Fambul Tok, Forum of Conscience and Catalyst for Peace developed a partnership based on mutual respect, close consultation and creative dialogue – breaking down the traditional barriers and distance between “funder” and “recipient.”

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Resources used:

• CJP to Work in Sierra Leone. Peacebuilder. Winter 2008. p. 13
• Hoffman, Elizabeth. Reconciliation in Sierra Leone: Local Processes Yield Global Lessons. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. 32(2): 129-141.
• Sierra Leone Ex-Combatants Make Peace with Victims. Agence France Presse. 05 April 2008.
• Sierra Leone’s  ‘Family Talk’ Heals Scars of War . The Christian Science Monitor. 18 July 2008.

Lynette Parker
October 2008