But what can we do about it? How can a young father whose parents were murdered can adopt a violence free behaviour? How can we teach a young mother to respect her daughter when she has experienced such brutal contempt herself? <\/strong><\/p>\n Humanium has developed a new approach to answer these questions in a professional & therapeutic environment. Using intuition and self-awareness, participants have the opportunity to break the circle of violence. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Arndt and the Humanium team combine coaching and leadership with an understanding of trauma therapy and psychology together, to make children\u2019s rights intuitively tangible, not simply intellectually communicated. For that matter, no other children’s rights NGO combines these disciplines like we do.\u00a0The new technique allows participants to remember their feelings and to share them. They learn to understand and distinguish their own and communal emotional words, and to what extent they are influenced by childhood memories. They understand that in the here and now, the circle of violence, experienced in childhood is still in them; such as after their father\u2019s frustration turned to violence, because he was not being able to feed his family, and the sense of hopelessness that this gave women. The victims of this toxic mix of violence and hopelessness are almost always the children. And this is how the circle of violence carries on. Right until the group becomes aware of it, and builds resilience, mindfulness, joy and compassion for its surroundings. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The workshops in Rwanda aim at groups but rely on individuals. It is built upon their reality and world of experience as this is what alters their perceptions and influences their behaviour. Under the motto <\/span>\u201cEveryone is a leader\u201d<\/b>, Humanium attempts to form local leaders. Indeed, we believe their awareness and strength attracts others and creates a motivational force, which is passed on to others. Since they work with their community, mostly children, there is a snowball effect, drawing more and more people in. People feel free of violence and are able to self-realise children\u2019s rights, not sometime in the future – NOW! <\/span><\/p>\n To ensure it is experienced daily, repetition is important. \u00a0Therefore, the workshops take place annually with the same participants, over a three to four-year cycle. Arndt explains the necessity of continuity: <\/span>\u201cIt is only in this way that numerous people can permanently achieve peaceful and joyous change.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “People really want to talk and express their feelings, quite differently from how we do it here in the West,”<\/span><\/i> explains Arndt, when describing the story of a village mayor who attended a morning workshop. Through his pure enthusiasm for the experience, he took the took the hours-long dusty roads to explain to other participants that what goes on in the workshops is important and that they should take it seriously. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Humanium puts the groups together with their local partner <\/span>AVSI (Associazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale)<\/span>. Groups of up to 25 participants are brought together for up to four hours to feel, not to think. AVSI knows the participants well, as their social workers visit the individuals in their families on weekly basis. Since 2014, AVSI has partnered with Humanium and, as a local children’s aid organization, is well acquainted with local conditions, people and history. <\/span><\/p>\n The aim of working with the groups is to end domestic violence and teach about human and children\u2019s rights. Exactly how collaboration with the groups works, depends on the groups themselves and how they are at that moment in time: <\/span>\u201cWe encourage everyone to take part, and speak out on what would otherwise be left unsaid. That gives every group a dynamic that we can never predict,\u201d<\/span><\/i> explains Arndt. \u00a0He calls the ability to adjust to the moment, the participant and what they need, <\/span>\u201cDancing in the moment\u201d<\/span><\/i>. In this moment, the most important role of the trained coaches from Humanium and AVSI is to hold the room and to provide security. This emboldens the participants, helping them to share their experiences and develop compassion. Both are prerequisites for openness and for trust in relationships between each other. \u00a0For many of the participants, they have the possibility to develop this for the first time in their lives. Also, as every workshop is different, we can identify five steps that belong to the Humanium approach:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the subject of new relationship knowledge, Arndt sometimes hear that, this is all well and good but that it does not change the tough reality of life in Rwanda, away from the fashionable capital of Kigali. He claims: <\/span>\u201cI hear that said occasionally, but this they grasp it, when they experience it regularly and visit the participants again\u201d.<\/span><\/i> The regional staff from AVSI also confirm that long-term work generates violence-free behaviour and interaction, and that this process is contagious. Documented cases of domestic violence in areas that have already been visited have dramatically fallen. <\/span><\/p>\n Along with the annual visit, there are regular <\/span>\u2018friends of the family\u2019<\/span><\/i> meetings, where participants exchange ideas. <\/span>\u201cJust the fact that there are groups where they can be listened to and understood where there was once only silence and violence, brings participants encouragement and happiness\u201d,<\/span><\/i> states Arndt. \u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe are going to further work with a group of young mothers, which is particularly exciting\u201d<\/span><\/i>, he says. He points out that working with the lowest division of the village hierarchy is difficult at first but always turns out to be the most enriching and lasting experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n This Humanium programme has been supported by the AIR FRANCE foundation. It reached 82,000 children through their families and villages but we always need more help to achieve our goals. We love when you get enthusiastic about our programmes so you can support Humanium by making a donation (https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/donation\/<\/a>), becoming a partner\u00a0 (<\/span>https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/child-sponsorship\/<\/span><\/a>) or by volunteering <\/span>https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/participate\/internships\/<\/span><\/a>). Many thanks!<\/span><\/p>\nSelf-awareness against violence<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWe reach people through local leaders<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nIt is important, take it seriously!<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat exactly happens in these group sessions?<\/h2>\n
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