24/03/2026
Our friend and colleague for many years, Jennifer Ludders, just spent some weeks in Rwanda and joined hands with Peaceful Heart Network´s Placide Nkubito during FAST workshops. Here is her heartfelt reflection:
A Circle of Courage: Peaceful Heart in Action
“I feel like my story is nothing compared to what others have shared. I was an orphan from the genocide. My aunt took me in but she did not want me, so I became the house maid and wasn’t allowed to attend school. Then when I was 13, I was r***d and got pregnant, and as much as I tried to love the child, I could only look at it with resentment…”
This was how one woman began her share during a Peaceful Heart Network workshop that Placide Nkubito and I facilitated for a group of 25 women in Kigali.
The question we had posed was simple: “Where in your life do you experience stress, how does it manifest, and what do you currently do to find relief?”
Yet the inquiry became something much larger: a permission slip for the women to speak not only about their present-day stressors, but about painful life experiences many had carried silently for years, in some cases their whole lives.
Almost every woman told their experiences of profound hardship, such as orphanhood, poverty, violence, loss, illness - realities that would be overwhelming for anyone. And yet what stood out even more strongly than their trauma was the extraordinary courage, vulnerability, and resilience these women embodied.
After more than three hours of collective sharing and witnessing, something beautiful unfolded.
Placide asked gently, “How many of you like to be hugged?”
Several women raised their hands. Others saw their raised hands and immediately went to hug them. Soon the entire room became a spontaneous circle of loving embrace - women holding one another, many sobbing openly in the safety of welcoming arms. It was deeply moving to witness, to receive, and to participate in that collective moment of loving sisterhood.
This workshop was made possible through Peaceful Heart Network’s ongoing collaboration with the Kingdom Gate School, a community where they have previously offered many F.A.S.T. workshops for the children. Christine Nyirambarushimana, the remarkable school founder and principal, is a passionate advocate for energy-based regulation tools. She has integrated TTT into the students’ daily morning assembly so they have consistent opportunities to regulate and reconnect.
Recognizing the impact on the children, Christine had a strong desire for the mothers in the community to directly learn and experience these tools as well. This workshop grew out of that vision.
While the heart of the day centered around what was most alive - the women’s stories - we also discussed stress, trauma, and healing, along with practical tools for relief. The F.A.S.T. approach is grounded in the understanding that stress and trauma live in the nervous system, and that simple, body-based techniques can help restore a sense of safety and regulation.
We introduced Trauma Tapping Technique (TTT), beginning with the basic tapping points and guiding the women through practicing on themselves. Afterwards, we demonstrated how they could also tap with and for one another, which they explored in pairs. Many reported immediate shifts, such as feeling lighter, more relaxed, free from headaches, and more grounded in their bodies.
One of the attendees was a teacher at the school, and she told the group about how she had witnessed so many positive changes in her students’ behavior since they’d incorporated daily tapping during the morning assembly.
Christine added a story about one student who had previously been subject to severe emotional outbursts and behavioral issues who, with consistent tapping practice, had transformed into a much calmer, more engaged student. Christine also said that the frequency of sickness among her students has gone way down since they’ve been tapping regularly.
At the end of the day, we gathered once more in a circle, standing and holding hands. There were a few final reflections and gratitudes, and then something happened that was unexpected and particularly profound for me.
One of the women quietly placed two chairs in the center of the circle and invited Placide and me to sit down. The women surrounded us and began chanting and praying over us, offering blessings and gratitude. Their voices rose together in a layered, polyrhythmic chorus - tender, powerful, and unlike anything I had ever experienced. As I sat there taking in their blessings, I began to feel tremors move through my body and waves of emotion rising within me. What a gift it was to receive this!
After we said our goodbyes, several women approached me individually to share that they had experienced healing that day. The shift in their faces was visible - there were smiles and a lightness, like something heavy had been laid down.
Although the workshop was conducted in Kinyarwanda, and Placide generously translated for me throughout, so much of what happened throughout the day required no translation. Human connection, compassion, and care speak a universal language.
I left feeling extraordinarily grateful and humbled - for each of the women and their beautiful spirits, for Placide’s dedication and pure heart, and for Gunilla and Ulf, for consistently carrying out their incredible vision to create pathways to healing for so many in Rwanda and around the world.
Experiences like this remind me that healing does not always require complex systems or advanced resources. Simple tools, safe space, and the willingness to witness one another with compassion are enough. When those conditions are present, even the deepest wounds can begin to soften.
🌟Jennifer Ludders is a relational coach, healing arts practitioner, and workshop facilitator devoted to helping people deepen connection - with themselves and one another. Drawing from trauma-informed practices like energy psychology and Authentic Relating, she creates spaces where individuals and groups can access greater awareness, wholeness, and possibility. Jennifer has been traveling and facilitating internationally, in places such as Indonesia, Nepal, the West Bank, Jordan and Puerto Rico and was honored to collaborate with Peaceful Heart Network in Rwanda.
