The Fourth of July is a time when Americans come together, not only to celebrate the birth of our nation, but to reflect on the values it represents and the gratitude and appreciation for our freedom. It is a time to build a better community, even in the midst of conflict and brokenness, and to strive for a more inclusive society. Luckily for us, there are communities around the world that have been able to come together after being torn apart by conflict and war, which teach us how to do the same, and how the role of forgiveness has played a powerful part in the healing process.

Receiving the Truth With Mercy

In my most recent interview, I spoke with a wonderful woman, Libby Hoffman, whose work focuses on repairing “fireproof containers of community” to hold the work that people need in their communities, recognizing that “handling the heat” is a good thing. She was inspired by the words of Anglican Bishop MacLeod Baker Ochola who said:

“Once the truth is known, it is very bitter for you to swallow. Truth is very deadly; it can kill. But how can you handle it? It is only through mercy. Mercy can let you hold it. If you want to carry live fire in your hands, you will throw it away because it will burn. But if you hold it in something good, that does not conduct heat, you can take the fire. So, it is the same with this, truth revealed — you can receive it with mercy.”

Bishop Baker Ochola’s words helped guide Libby in her work in Sierra Leone and with the post-war reconciliation program, Fambul Tok (Family Talk). Libby is the founder and president of Catalyst for Peace, and facilitated the growth of Fambul Tok into a national policy framework.

Forgiveness is deeply ingrained in the fabric of Sierra Leonean culture and was a powerful force in helping Sierra Leoneans heal from their civil war. This was illustrated in the powerful story of Captain Savage. Mohammed Savage was one of the most notorious commanders in the civil war. Many people say if the special court had indicted 14 people instead of 13, he would have been the next one. Savage was from Kono, the diamond district in Sierra Leone, where a majority of his command had taken place. He was so notorious for his gruesome killings that a pond, which turned into a mass grave, was named the Savage Pit. This pit was the place where decapitated heads and bodies of people he had killed were buried. In that community was another notorious leader who had killed and beheaded 17 members of his own family, Tamba Joe.

The Search for Tamba Joe

When Fambul Tok visited that community, there was considerable discussion about whether even to have a bonfire, the heart of the ceremony rooted in local culture and tradition. However, it was ultimately decided that the community would never be able to move on unless they could discuss what had happened. So, people spent months searching for Tamba Joe, hoping to find him and bring him back so he could apologize. The community wanted to let Tamba Joe know that he would be welcomed back to testify at the ceremony. Yet no one could find him. Was he out of the country? Was he dead? No one knew. And when there finally was a Fambul Tok ceremony, his sisters, including one named Naomi Joe, were there to speak on his behalf. When the father of many of the victims stood up to talk about what happened to his children, the sisters came forward to apologize for Tamba Joe. The father, who was testifying, forgave the sisters, which initiated a healing process and led to an agreement to work together.

After the ceremony, Naomi Joe and her sisters desperately wanted Tamba Joe to come home. People searched all around the country, and eventually Naomi Joe strongly sensed that Tamba Joe was no longer alive. Then someone asked her if Tamba Joe were found, would she have a message she would like to give him? Yes, Naomi Joe replied. Here’s what she said:

“What I have to tell you — don’t be afraid. Anything can happen to us. And everything has an end. There is time for crying. There is time for death. There is time for happiness. I believe with our apology at the bonfire for the role that you played, we have been forgiven. So, wherever you are, you should not be afraid to come home. But if you are not ready to come, at least let there be some communication between us. Now I have taken the responsibility to work together as a family. We have lost enough of our relatives in the war. Our mother is now dead. Our father is now dead. Our cousins died. Even our children died in this war — a lot of them. Please come home so that we can do some cleansing and sacrifices to all who have died. That is all I have to say.”

Tamba Joe never appeared, but the message meant for him found its way to Mohammed Savage. It was the first time Savage had seen such a message from people who had suffered during the war, a message that conveyed the villagers’ willingness to accept him back into the community. And for whatever reason, Savage felt the message was speaking directly to him. Savage needed people to understand his plight, that he had a conscience which kept him in a dark place, and he, too, was suffering in very private ways. He wanted to be free, yet he knew fingers were pointing at him. He knew he had to come clean.

The Apology of Mohammed Savage

Savage realized that if he could admit what he had done, he could then help to heal the communities where he had caused so much harm. Due to issues concerning the special court, it took 18 months before Savage was able to attend a special bonfire just for him, where he came face to face with many of the people he had harmed, acknowledged what he had done, and, in an astonishing moment, apologized.

In her book, Fambul Tok, Libby Hoffman relates how the villagers of his community accepted Savage’s apology, including the Paramount Chief, who at one time never wanted to see Savage, then changed his mind, saying, “I’ve begun to see him as a human being.” With time, Savage returned to the community, engaging in constructive ways. He became a member of the Fambul Tok staff and began to work with ex-combatants using his story to help them come to terms with the harm they inflicted on others and ensure there would be no repeats. His story illustrates beautifully how individuals touched by the power of forgiveness can be transformed and become agents of societal change. This is how individuals, through their journey of forgiveness, create social change and become forces of political forgiveness.

The Importance of Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement plays a pivotal role in the Fambul Tok process, just as it does in the process of political forgiveness: There needs to be an acknowledgment of the crimes committed by the perpetrators of the harm caused. Survivors also need to acknowledge the pain and suffering shared by survivors and perpetrators — as individuals and in communities — and to understand that those who harm, in many cases, are themselves victims of significant harm. There is the trauma of oppression for both sides. This is very difficult to see, especially with groups who have a history of violence toward one another.

What becomes harder for people to acknowledge is that there is decency in the perpetrator’s community, and therefore, not every person is collectively responsible. More difficult is the acknowledgement of humanity in each other: understanding that anyone is just as capable of causing harm as the other, if they were living under the same circumstances. This becomes part of the healing work that needs to be done for forgiveness to be transformative. People will need to be held accountable for their actions and then come together to make decisions on how to repair the community. Only then can new relationships be formed and forgiveness offered.

The Fireproof Container of Community

What can we learn from the Fambul Tok process that can be applied to community healing in the United States? It’s the strength of the community and the power of forgiveness. It was the people who decided to work together, committed to having the hard conversations, acknowledging the truth of the atrocities together in front of the community, and recognizing that the healing community could be a strong enough container to hold even the heat of egregious actions, such as those of the civil war in Sierra Leone. Not dealing with the past was paralyzing those communities and holding them back. The power of community created the space that supports tough, hard conversations, such as Fambul Tok. It is a commitment to move forward together and act! It is this power of communities coming together with their energies and resources that is a lesson we can all learn from.

To learn more about Fambul Tok and Libby Hoffman’s work, enjoy the Political Forgiveness episode, “Forgiving a War Commander. Forging Community.” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.