The Amani Trust

The AMANI Trust is a Zimbabwean-registered non-governmental organisation which was established in 1993. AMANI operates on a non-profit basis, providing services free of charge. AMANI depends upon voluntary funding from institutions and organisations which share its objectives.

The struggle against torture goes on in more than 80 countries in the world. Part of this struggle is the work done by health and social workers to restore the victims of torture to health: to turn the victims into survivors as one person has put it.

Few ordinary people are aware of the devastating consequences of torture. They include both physical and psychological problems: damaged bodies and damaged minds are always the effects of torture. The effects can last for many decades.

Few people are aware of the enormous social consequences of torture, of the ways in which the entire fabric of society is destroyed when government sanctioned torture occurs.

AMANI'S MISSION

• to provide services for the rehabilitation of victims of human rights violations, particularly torture, repressive violence and institutionalised violence.
• to participate in the creation of a human rights climate by instituting programme of training and education, especially within health and allied professions.
• to offer ongoing training in the detection and treatment of the sequelae of torture and psychosocial trauma.
• to liaise with other national and international bodies who share AMANI’s objectives.
• to undertake research into the effects of torture and human rights violations.
• to provide information and documentation on the effects of torture and psychosocial trauma.

PRINCIPLES OF REHABILITATION
The AMANI Trust adopts a holistic approach to the assessment and management of the survivors of torture and psychosocial trauma, and bases its approach to rehabilitation on the following principles:

• community-based delivery of services
• individual assessment and counselling
• home visiting and family therapy
• development of community support networks
• training of community health workers
• development of district psychiatric services
• ongoing research and monitoring of programmes

AMANI Trust has been mounting programmes in three Districts in Mashonaland Central Province: Mount Darwin, Muzurabani and Guruve Districts. A useful, mutually beneficial partnership has been developed with both the District and the Provincial Medical Directorate. More than 300 torture survivors have been seen, and 100 health workers trained. The Trust has produced manuals for primary care workers, and is currently involved in a project to train Rehabilitation Technicians’ in the assessment and treatment of survivors of torture and trauma.

A new programme has been initiated in 1998 in Gwanda District, Matabeleland South Province.

The AMANI Trust has an commitment to ongoing evaluation and monitoring of its work. The Trust has produced a series of reports on aspects of its work, as well as several publications in scientific journals.

AMANI'S CLIENTS
The survivors of torture and psychosocial trauma are largely unseen by the community and health workers. In one district in Zimbabwe, the AMANI Trust estimates that as many as 1 adult in 10 attending a health facility may be a torture victim. It is now usual to classify torture victims into one of two categories: Primary victims (those with direct experience of organised violence and torture) and Secondary victims (those indirectly affected by organised violence and torture).

Primary victims for AMANI's work are victims of:

• physical torture
• deprivation
• sensory overstimulation
• psychological torture
• witnessing of violent death, extreme violence or torture

Secondary victims for AMANI's work are:

• spouses of torture survivors
• families of torture survivors
• families of the disappeared
• communities experiencing high levels of violence
• health workers and other workers who care for torture survivors

AMANI accepts clients for rehabilitation without discriminating on the basis of religion, ideology, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

AMANI'S SUPPORTERS
The AMANI Trust has been supported by a variety of donors and organisations over the years, and all have contributed to the development of a new approach to the management of the survivors of torture and organised violence. The following must be thanked:

• The Swedish Red Cross
• The Oak Zimbabwe Foundation
• The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture
• The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)
• The Swiss Embassy
• The International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture

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