Psychosynthesis Comes to Africa
By Philip Emase
Hilaire Niyongabo is a young Burundian living in Nairobi. He is a college student, but when he is not shuttling between classes, he works as a volunteer educator with Sangwa Amahoro, a youth group that seeks to build peace through dance.
In early August, Hilaire and fourteen other students from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) completed a three year training programme in psychosynthesis - a novel field that had never before been taught in Africa.
The group graduated in an outdoor ceremony in Nairobi, where they received their certificates from the board of five Italian teachers who conducted the training.
Psychosynthesis is a psychological theory created by Roberto Assagioli, an Italian psychiatrist who studied under the celebrated Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Its aim is promote self-awareness, such that each individual can grow by harmonizing his or her talents. Psychosynthesis finds application in education, psychotherapy, social work and community development, and is actually practiced in 57 countries around the world.
The teachers were impressed by the enthusiasm of their first batch, saying each of them passed their final examination with excellent results. Already, Hilaire believes the training will make him a better educator.
“I am much more aware of myself, and of the potential I have in me. This gives me a much stronger foundation to reach out to my fellow youths, ” Hilaire beams.
Luckily, the just concluded training was not a one-off project. One of the teachers, Piero Caforio, explains that the successful graduation of the pioneer class marks the beginning of a continuing programme made possible by the Institute of Psychosynthesis in Italy and the Italian Society of Psychosynthesis Therapy in partnership with the Koinonia Community in Nairobi.
Africa’s Great Lakes region has been plagued by violent conflict for many years. Rwanda suffered the infamous 1994 genocide, Burundi has had its fair share of ethnic tensions, and the DRC’s abundant mineral wealth is a blessing that has unfortunately brought with it the curse of intermittent war.
It would seem quite natural that the psychosynthesis training programme was inspired by this history of conflict, at least in part. Or was it?
Not so much, Piero clarifies. Each student is considered a viable individual, not a helpless prisoner of the past.
“The programme has little to do with the history of the region,” Piero explains. “Psychosynthesis simply seeks to enrich each person’s awareness of the present, thus improving their ability to shape a better future.”