Adelite Mukamana is a clinical psychologist and genocide studies scholar with more than 20 years’ experience in mental health, psychosocial support and peacebuilding. A survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her work. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology.
Adelite is the co-founder of the Geruka Healing Centre, envisioned as a vibrant hub for quality clinical services and community resources. She collaborates with other narrative practitioners to deliver care in Rwanda and beyond. She currently serves as technical assistant to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre’s Mental Health Division.
Previously, Adelite served for a decade as Director of Psychosocial Support at Ibuka, where she initiated programs to reduce psychological destabilisation during the Gacaca justice process and guided professionals supporting victims and witnesses.
She has collaborated extensively with peacebuilding organisations, integrating mental health into reconciliation and unity efforts. Notably, she co-developed the Societal Healing Manual Facilitation Guide with Never Again Rwanda and Interpeace and also served as a senior psychologist at Prison Fellowship Rwanda.
Nadia d’Or is a citizen journalist and founder of Couleurs d’Ayiti, an independent media outlet dedicated to the sovereignty of the Haitian people. Convinced that narratives shape destinies, she works to shift the way Haiti is perceived – from within and from without. She documents, questions and amplifies local voices and realities.
As founder of Horizon Commun, Nadia supports community building and transformation in Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. A specialist in change management, community development and participatory pedagogy, she draws on collective intelligence methods and tools in service of a core belief that communities carry within themselves the resources needed to reach their full potential. Her role is to create the conditions for this to happen.
At the intersection of these two commitments, Nadia d’Or is drawn to collective narrative practices and the arts as levers for psychosocial resilience in support of the Haitian people. She contributes to the growing wave of solidarity that supports psychologists, therapists and social workers who work with Haitian communities in their rebuilding process, through the development of community health programmes. She welcomes connections with those who share these interests and wish to explore collaboration in this field.
To get in touch or explore collaboration: [email protected]
How do we rebuild community in the wake of collective trauma?
Can post-genocide Rwanda serve as a model for Haiti?
In this extraordinary interview, Adelite Mukamana – psychologist, PhD researcher and genocide survivor – explains how she helps the Rwandan people rebuild community in the aftermath of the collective trauma of the genocide, through the arts, culture and collective narrative approaches. Beyond the specific methods she describes, this interview invites us to reflect on how communities heal and rebuild across generations.
In French with English subtitles.
Key words: collective trauma, genocide, Rwanda, Haiti, arts, culture, narrative therapy, collective narrative practice
Mukamana, A., & d’Or, N. (2026). Rebuilding community after collective trauma: Arts, culture and collective narrative practice in post-genocide Rwanda, an interview with Adelite Mukamana [Video]. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work (2), https://doi.org/10.4320/GLSS6290
Links
Couleurs d’Ayiti https://couleurs-ayiti.com/
Geruka Healing Centre https://www.gerukacentre.rw/
Ibuka https://www.ibuka.rw/
Ibuka Belgium https://www.ibuka.be/
Ibuka France https://www.ibuka-france.org/
Ibuka USA https://ibukausa.org/
References
Bahati, M. M. (2024, December 8). IBUKA, AERG, GAERG merge into one body. New Times. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22439/news/rwanda/ibuka-aerg-gaerg-merge-into-one-body
Broulard, L. (2022, October 24). Au Rwanda, le traumatisme du génocide se transmet de génération en génération. La Monde Afrique. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2022/10/24/au-rwanda-le-traumatisme-du-genocide-se-transmet-de-generation-en-generation_6147035_3212.html
Denborough, D. (2010). The Team of Life: A collective narrative methodology offering young people a sporting chance [DVD]. Dulwich Centre Foundation.
Denborough, D. (2011). L’approche narrative collective: Quelles réponses apporter aux individus, groupes et communautés qui ont vécu un trauma? [Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma]. Satas.
Denborough, D. (2014). Retelling the stories of our lives: Everyday narrative therapy to draw inspiration and transform experience. Norton.
Faucheux, A. (2022, April 3). “Ce n’est pas la fin d’un génocide qui achève un génocide” Traumatismes et deuils dans le Rwanda post 1994 [“It is not the end of a genocide that completes a genocide” Trauma and mourning in post-1994 Rwanda]. Hypotheses. https://penserlahaine.hypotheses.org/9131
Murengera, E. M., Niyonsenga, J., Rutembesa, E., Sezibera, V., & Nshimiyimana, A. (2025). Contribution of narrative therapy in reduction of anxiety, depression and PTSD among survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 in Rwanda. PLOS Mental Health, 2(4), e0000287. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000287
Mwiza, S. (2025, November 10). Ibuka at 30: Decades of resilience, rebuilding. New Times. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/31144/news/kwibuka/ibuka-at-30-decades-of-resilience-rebuilding
Ncube, N. (2006). The Tree of Life Project: Using narrative ideas in work with vulnerable children in Southern Africa. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, (1), 3–16.
Scherrer, D. (2018). Accompagner avec l’Arbre de vie – Une pratique narrative pour restaurer l’estime de soi [Accompanying with the Tree of Life – A narrative practice to restore self-esteem]. Intereditions.
United Nations. (2026). 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/
Unpacked History. (n. d). Rwanda’s gacaca: Choosing forgiveness over revenge. https://unpackedhistory.com/en/contemporary/rwanda-gacaca
Image credits
Carlielle, T. (2011, August 30). Nyungwe Forest National Park – Rwanda, Africa. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_U1LNvIQmE
Geruka Healing Centre. (2022, March 4). We as a people are not defined by the conditions we face. https://www.instagram.com/geruka_healing_centre/reel/CarnDt9lY_p/
Geruka Healing Centre. (2022, March 18). Mental health is not a destination but a process. https://www.instagram.com/geruka_healing_centre/reel/CbPw8K6Ai6j/
Maria. (2024, May 20). Umuvumu tree is known in English as a Strangler Fig https://myvirtualworldtrip.com/2024/05/20/the-drums-of-rwanda/