Twig’s Stories from Congo

Travel stories proving the point that we’re all in this together – that’s a good thing

“The best process is one that bothers us, one that provides sufficient resistance to enable progress.” –Toss Mukwa

Finally, some good news from the Democratic Republic of Congo

In 1998 and 1999 I made 2 visits to former war regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo by invitation of a local grassroots community organizing group that has been working toward peace, reconciliations and trauma recovery. I was there to translate the emerging information about trauma and Somatic Experiencing into language that would be applicable and useful to local peoples. Those trips were difficult but ultimately successful. The seeds we planted in that work have continued to grow with continuing interest and effort by that movement to incorporate SE guidelines into their work. The immediate focus is to have one of their primary animators, Toss Mukwa, attend the 3-year SE training in Switzerland in preparation for future efforts of bringing more SE information to his country. To help Toss fund his trip I’ve been presenting a storytelling performance about my time in DRC, sharing information both about conditions (and resiliency) in DRC, along with bits and pieces about SE and what it was like to be “me, there, in that place.”

Here are a few video clips from the Berkeley, 2012 performance.