Between Remorse and Nostalgia: Haunting Memories of War and the Search for Healing Among Former Zimbabwean Soldiers in Exile in South Africa

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the ways in which the former soldiers in our sample respond to their present life in exile, to their past military experiences as both perpetrators and victims of the war and subsequently to their involvement in the political violence in Zimbabwe. The chapter examines the mens' need for support and healing. It delves into the healing work that takes place in two different social spaces: the space of military camaraderie created in the political organization of the AMMOZA and the healing space provided by Pentecostal churches in Johannesburg. Specifically it looks at the work of the 'health and wealth' gospel of the Pentecostal church. The chapter explores the complementarities and contradictions between these two spaces in the way they frame the problems the men have and enable the men to deal with their memories of the past. We provide some more background information about this group of former soldiers and the methodology of this study. We then focus on the main issues that trouble these men and subsequently on the strategies they use to survive in exile and to deal with their past in their everyday life. We end by examining why their search for support is experienced as incomplete, as these men struggle to reconcile different approaches to healing. This exploration supports the need for a more comprehensive approach to heal the pain the men suffer from. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)