Sociality and temporality in local experiences of distress and healing: Ethnographic research in northern Rwanda

Prior studies have traced sociality and temporality as significant features of African healing. However, association between the two has not been explicitly investigated. This paper explores how sociality and temporality are associated in local experiences of distress and healing among northern Rwandans. The ethnographic research, including in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and participant observation, was conducted in 2015–2016, with 43 participants from the Musanze district who have suffered from not only the genocide but also post-genocide massacres. Findings identified common local idioms of distress: ibikomere (wounded feelings), ihungabana (mental disturbances), ihahamuka (trauma), and kurwara mu mutwe (illness of the head, severe mental illness). One stage of distress was perceived to develop into another, slightly more serious than the previous. Social isolation played a significant role in the development as it activated ‘remembering’ and ‘thinking too much’ about the past and worsened symptoms. Subsequently, healing was experienced through social reconnection and a shift of time orientation from the past to the future; the healing experience traced a process of leaving the past behind, moving forwards and creating a future through community involvement. The experiences of distress and healing in this population were explained by two axes, i.e. sociality (isolation – reconnection) and temporality (past – future), which are associated with each other. Given the sociality–temporality association in African post-war healing, the study highlights that assistant programmes that facilitate social practice and future creation can be therapeutic and be an alternative for people who cannot benefit from talking-based and trauma-focused approaches.