Rwanda: A Template for Trauma-Informed Governance

About The Course

Date: January 21, 2022

Location : Remotely Via Zoom (A Zoom Link will be posted in our curriculum *access to view will be given once enrolled)

Time: 8:30 AM – 10 AM PST

Facilitator: Athena Phillips, LCSW – Portland, OR

Rwanda is a global leader in its’ intentional, phasic and sustained recovery from 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Citizens of Rwanda endured unimaginable violence and approximately 800,000 people were killed within 100 days. Intentional and systemic division was created between groups of people within Rwanda and became the foundation and fuel for the violence. While the history of the genocide is incomprehensible to many, the recovery efforts are deeply inspiring and rooted in humanity, egalitarianism, and unity. Rwanda has demonstrated that recovery from large scale tragedy is not only possible, but that there is also possibility for fundamental shifts towards unity, community, and connection.

During a period of deep division in many parts of the world, Rwanda provides a template for the application of trauma-informed principles to not only recovering from mass tragedy, but thriving. Rwanda is a global beacon in reconnecting us to our neighbors and seeing beyond what separates us.

PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

Describe the principles of trauma-informed care
Describe the application of trauma-informed principles in the context of Rwanda’s recovery
Describe multicultural perspectives on trauma-informed care

Meet The Presenter

Yvonne is one of the most experienced mental health professionals in Rwanda. Before joining mHub in Rwanda in early 2020 where she is now heading the mental health services department, she spent 13 years working for the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital of Ndera as the Head of the Consultation Unit of its Kicukiro branch “Centre Psychothérapeutique Icyizere”. For five of those years, she was also the Acting Head of the center. Yvonne is a nurse by training with a master’s degree from the University of Rwanda. She is interested in HIV/AIDS and mental illness, Drug addiction, Child psychiatry, Quality assurance, Psychotherapies for survivors of war, challenging behavior in mental and physical healthcare settings, psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions in LMICs, autism language skills. She is fluent in Kinyarwanda, English, and French.