Truth and Repair: Our Model

Developed in Sierra Leone after a brutal civil war, Fambul Tok translates to “Family Talk.” It is based in a belief that we are one family, and it takes a village to heal each other. Traditional Sierra Leonean practice is not carceral or punitive. Fambul Tok teaches us that the community itself is not healthy unless everyone is present & involved.

Sierra Leone's T&R process was different from many others, which focused mainly on prosecuting dictators and overlords in a court-style system. Instead, after an expensive human rights trial -- a process was developed to go village by village to heal the interpersonal/community wounds that had gone unaddressed post-war. The “Fambul Tok” process spread to hundreds of villages across the country and resulted in the creation of ongoing spaces for grass-roots conflict resolution & other community rebuilding projects.

Fambul Tok set an international model for grass-roots reconciliation.