Think Creative Fall 2023

coming together

the Maya worldview and ancestral practices, Tax developed her own culturally integrated healing programs. “The Maya worldview is a part of who I am,” says Tax. “My parents and grandparents upheld traditional Maya practices and that was passed down to me.” Tax believes the Maya worldview and ancestral practices have critical principles and values for social cohesion, and so she incorporates them into her group healing sessions for survivors. For example, Maya practices of dialogue and consensus are key to resolving community conflict and are regularly integrated into her sessions. “Cohesion means that we are united and coordinated and that together, we propose solutions to our problems,” Tax says. Tax has become instrumental in creating group healing sessions in conjunction with Tejiendo Paz. These groups provide culturally relevant psychosocial services and healing support to women who have experienced gender-based violence. DEMI’s efforts to support survivors extend beyond group healing sessions. DEMI’s holistic approach often includes the support of social workers, lawyers and psychologists to help survivors navigate the complex legal system in Guatemala in search of justice. For Tax, DEMI’s work strengthens the social cohesion among survivors by empowering these women to create positive changes. “Women in our culture are in charge of educating our children,” she says. “We play a very important role within the family. If we educate and shape our children well, we can then influence a change within our society, our community, our family.” Ghana: Building cohesion by resolving one conflict at a time It was another busy day for Kansawurche Hajia Bukari at her maternity clinic in Northern Ghana. As a medical professional, Bukari has built close ties across diverse communities in the re gion. As a QueenMother—a traditional female leader who, among other duties, resolves local conflicts—she is called on to do much more than provide medical care.

Queen Mothers, like Kansawurche Hajia Bukari, are traditional female leaders in Ghana who help resolve conflicts, among other duties.

When she saw a group of Fulbe men approach ing her maternity clinic, she knew they were not coming for pregnancy advice. The delega tion of nomadic herders told the QueenMother they had been banned fromwatering their cattle at a private school’s borehole. The school leadership claimed the herders’ cattle had de stroyed the school’s farm and were disruptive during classroom lessons. Water has been and continues to cause conflict around the world. For the herders, access to water has become more difficult because of climate change, increased farming and new settlements that have blocked the Fulbe’s traditional grazing routes. Grievances like this exacerbate disparities within communities, as

Social cohesion is ... a way of working with communities to give them the knowledge and skills to address any issues that emerge in their communities using peaceful means.” - Alimou Diallo, Chief of Party, USAID REWARD II West Africa program “

training focused on dialogue and mediation to resolve conflict, as well as how personal leader ship impacts community relationships. “Before the training, we were authoritarian traditional leaders, but with this training, we learned that democracy gives better results, which has really helped our leadership skills,” the QueenMother says. With these new skills, Bukari successfully brought the herders and school administrators together to dialogue and reach a compromise;

well as foment mistrust of local officials and their ability to resolve them. The QueenMother could sense that the situation was escalating and needed her quick intervention. Fortunately, weeks before the Fulbe men sought her intervention, the QueenMother was trained in leadership, conflict management and the prevention of violent extremism by the USAID/OTI Littorals Regional Initiative. The

Photo by Michael J. Zamba (QueenMother)

18 | Think Creative | Fall 2023