n this week for national unity in diversity and integration, we need to reflect upon and develop a vital factor – the inner healing of memories after three decades of war and about six decades of ethnic tension.
Visiting Sri Lanka to conduct workshops on this was Michael Lapsley, Head of the Institute for the Healing of Memories (IHOM) based in South Africa, which many analysts see as a rainbow nation where there was a just and peaceful resolution of a decades–long conflict through a truth and reconciliation process which now continues through community workshops and seminars for the healing of memories.

This visionary who worked with Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress since the 1970s, was himself a victim of Apartheid terror. In 1990 he was blasted by a letter bomb, losing both arms and one eye. But this victim is today not only a survivor but also a victor who himself experienced healing and wholeness. In 1998 he set up the IHOM which conducts programmes for the healing of memories of individuals and communities all over the world.

According to this visionary, the main aim in the healing of memories is to create safe and sacred spaces where people could begin the journey of acknowledging and letting go of that which is destructive inside them and taking  from the past that which is lifegiving.

He says everyone has a story to tell and every story needs to be heard, acknowledged, and respected. This is the first step to personal healing and interpersonal relationships. If this is not done, the victims could become the victimisers, as we have seen in Sri Lanka.

The IHOM says emotional, psychological, and spiritual wounds are inflicted by war, human rights abuses, and other traumatic circumstances or evils. Workshops for the healing of memories provide a safe space where individuals can tell their stories in an atmosphere of confidentiality and respect. When our stories are shared, acknowledged, and reverenced, participants can take one step toward healing and wholeness. Guided by trained facilitators, participants are encouraged to confront issues on an emotional and spiritual, rather than intellectual level. The spiritual dimension means a spirit of ‘maithri and karunawa’  or love, forgiveness and compassion.

Such healing of memories is necessary for victims of human rights abuses, war and torture, prisoners, refugees and those who have suffered physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.

Sri Lanka also needs to consider such projects to restore humanity. We need to bring together young people from diverse communities. They could come together in workshops, story-telling circles, visiting historical or present-day sites of dehumanisation. IHOM says the aim of these activities is to develop their leadership skills, consciousness and share experiences on how social, economic, political and spiritual situations past and present affect their human dignity and that of their communities.

At the core of this IHOM process is starting the young people on their own healing journey. Many of them have already been damaged consciously or sub-consciously,  by social violence and dysfunctional family life. During the process they link their own story to the story of their community, making it possible for them to put forward solutions to problems facing themselves and their communities. These could contribute to building a more humane and non-violent society and respect for human rights.

National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara who has launched a kite festival to mark national unity week, needs to take the country higher through programmes for the healing of memories and the restoration of humanity  in the aftermath of the brutalisation that came from the war and was compounded by the criminalisation and  corruption of politics.