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"When considering the question should we remember? it is very important to firstly ask, has any victim forgotten? Could they ever forget? Secondly we should ask, who wants to forget? Who benefits when the atrocities stay silent in the past?"

(Roberto Cabrera - Guatemalan human rights activist)

"Ayipheli Ngekiphele Lendaba"

Press Release

 

MAGGEMM brokers its first victim support agreement with London psychotherapist.

London, UK - 17/06/08

Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands (MAGGEMM) today announced its first victim support agreement with a London psychotherapist. Gukurahundi has had a long-term effect on the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of victims, which for many of the victims has got worse as the trauma remains untreated.

In 1983, Norman Ngwenya was a 14 year old boy growing up in Tsholotsho when he witnessed the torture and cold-blooded murder by the 5th Brigade of his father, uncle and pregnant aunt. Still traumatised by what he saw, Mr Ngwenya sought the help of MAGGEMM, who in turn have brokered a treatment agreement with an established psychotherapist in London. Mr Ngwenya has now been started on a treatment programme.

Announcing the treatment agreement, Thembani Dube, MAGGEMM director of programmes said: "The Gukurahundi wound still festers untreated for many of the victims. We know of many people in Matabeleland who are still traumatised by what was done to them or what they saw but this is the first case we've come across outside Zimbabwe. We are however delighted to be able to help Norman begin his journey towards healing and we wish him well.
"Alongside remembering those who died or disappeared during Gukurahundi, MAGGEMM also aims to do whatever it can to help victims like Norman. This case is a testament to our commitment towards that goal."

Commenting on the agreement, the psychotherapist now treating Mr Ngwenya said: "Few people can have experienced what Norman went through and survived unscathed. The healing process will be long and uncertain, but with regular treatment I am sure that he will be able to overcome the effects that the traumatic experience has had on him over these many years."

Notes to Editors:

1. Trauma - in psychiatry and psychoanalysis, is any totally unexpected experience which the subject is unable to assimilate. The immediate response to a psychological trauma is shock; the later effects are either spontaneous recovery (which is analogous to spontaneous healing of physical traumata) or the development of a traumatic neurosis. Rycroft 1968
2. Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands (MAGGEMM) is a not-for-profit group for victims of the Gukurahundi genocide in Zimbabwe between 1982 and 1988.
3. MAGGEMM is not a political party/organisation and its actions must not be viewed as such.
4. Gukurahundi is a Shona word which means "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains" and was the codename for the government military operation in Matabeleland and Midlands between 1982 and 1988.
5. At least 20,000 people were massacred during the Gukurahundi campaign. For more information, please contact Mpho Ncube (ncubem@maggemm.org), telephone 07776326521 or visit www.maggemm.org