Tchatchu Déogratias

by info@allthatgoodstuff.co.uk

28 October, 2022

Meet Déogratias. From 1999 to 2004, he was a member of a rebel group. At the request of the government, Déogratias turned in his weapons. But this was just the first step towards changing his life. “After surrendering the weapon, another challenge awaited us, that of integration into the community.”

Déogratias turned to gold digging to earn a living. But he found his transition from being in a rebel group, to this work difficult. “I had regular conflicts with people because of my rebellious nature which made me violently take other people’s property.”

One day, the Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) visited Déogratias and others also mining gold. They encouraged them to work aspart of a cooperative. Later CRC came back and offered training such as “how to manage conflicts”.

“This motivated me to join the cooperative. Thanks to this training, today I manage my work site very well.” Déogratias has now managed to turn around his life. After joining the co-operative and engaging in training offered by CRC, he is able to work alongside others at the mine without disputes. “I am grateful to CRC for their guidance, which has allowed me to integrate into the community
and live in harmony with my co-workers, and the work of CRC has decreased the rate of conflict in the community.”

Déogratias is now in charge of logistics at Comalobani, one of the co-operatives. Without the support provided by this project, those
re-integrating in their communities from rebel groups would not be given a second chance and a way out of their old lives.

Tchatchu Déogratias

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