International Project

Using the Writing Process to Facilitate Healing Among High School-aged Orphans of Genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda This project is a collaborative project between      US Partners: Laura Apol, Ph.D., MSU College of Education, Dept. of Teacher Education and poet Ken Bialek, founding director of LinkingSchools, a US-based NGO Tatyana Sigal, M.D., psychiatrist in private practice Yakov Sigal, M.D., MSU College of Human Medicine, Dept. of Pediatrics and Human Development Frank Biocca, Ph.D., AT&T Professor of Telecommunication, Director of the M.I.N.D. Lab Rwanda Partners: Glorieuse Uwizeye, mental health professional, Kigali Rwanda; incoming MSU doctoral student, HALE Rose Gakwandi, director, Association Mwana Ukundwa (AMU), a Rwandan organization that works with children orphaned by genocide and the resulting HIV-AIDS Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre Based on a writing workshop model, the project uses narrative writing to facilitate healing among high-school-aged orphan survivors of the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.  The project involves several stages: Designing the workshop—working collaboratively with project partners to design a workshop that uses written narrative storytelling to facilitate healing among genocide survivors Training facilitators—collaborating with Rwandan university students, themselves survivors of genocide, who will function as facilitators in the workshop model (this includes training in literacy /writing instruction as well as in mental health concerns in working with survivors of trauma) Conducting the workshops—conducting a series of facilitator-led writing workshops with small groups of high school-aged orphans of Rwandan genocide Revising the narratives—using these narratives as “drafts” which are, in the workshop setting, revised by participants (in collaboration with facilitators and researchers) into curricular material and children’s literature.  These materials will be disseminated (in print and in online and interactive formats) for children of Rwanda as well as for children of other parts of the world To date, US participant-researchers have traveled to Rwanda several times to work with facilitators on process writing and writing-for-healing methods.  In 2009, the workshops will be run by the facilitators with high-school-aged young people, with US and Rwandan partners serving as on-site consultants.  As well, US and Rwandan partners will work closely with facilitators and student writers in revising the narratives to turn them into curricular materials and stories for children, and to make them public through various forms of media dissemination. Research will document the process of using writing to facilitate healing among genocide survivors, including assisting high school aged writers to use their stories of survival to produce curriculum materials and literature for children. In addition to this writing for healing project, Dr. Apol is also creating children’s picture book about the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, as well as a collection of her own poems about her experiences of post-genocide Rwanda entitled, Land of Milk and Horror.

To read more about this project, please click here. MSU Contact Person: Laura Apol: apol@msu.edu