Research

Manda discovered that allowing trauma survivors to document their own stories enabled them to express things that could not be conveyed in words and brought to light what had been suppressed. Writers were able to imagine new possibilities of living meaningfully in a changing world. Thus in 2013, 14 stories of trauma survivors were documented and published in a handbook as the first written output from the research project. This was the highlight of the research project as the book bore witness to the traumas that every participant experienced before the Trauma Healing Project, the journey they took during the project lifespan, and the measure of healing gained at the end of the project. It is evidence of the significant contribution to the healing of South Africa’s multiple-woundedness and empowering of traumatized individuals and communities to restore relationships, recover faith, hope, meaning, and dignity. This type of healing is transformative.

“I was terribly stressed. Then I got an opportunity to tell my story in a small group. It so hurt me to re-tell the story of my life so much so that I got sick as I was overwhelmed. But when everybody listened to me and shared their stories, I felt supported and realised that I needed to forgive myself for everything that happened. I took a decision and accepted that I would never change the past stressful events. It felt like I had removed a heavy burden from my shoulders. I felt like I was born again, healthy and free. I felt the love and strength to help others with similar experiences. I have gained self-confidence. I’m happy to be a caregiver and ready to help others.” Nonhlanhla

Having gained significant knowledge and skills in working with people who have been exposed to emotional, psychological, moral, and spiritual injuries during the five-year Trauma Healing project, Manda began expanding the frontiers of trauma healing work to Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States of America. In 2013, he accompanied the director of the Institute for Healing of Memories to Sri Lanka, South Korea, Luxembourg, Colombia, and the United States. In the US alone, they facilitated the healing of memories workshops and meetings in Hawaii, California, New York, Washington State, Washington DC, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Oregon, Arizona, and Minnesota. They helped create safe spaces where participants could tell their stories. 

Manda facilitated healing work with one hand, and with another he continued research. He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of South Africa (UNISA), which ran from August 2014 to July 2016. During this time he engaged in rigorous research, presenting papers at national and international conferences.

He presented a paper on trauma and spirituality at the Free University of Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He proceeded to Vilnius University in Lithuania where he presented another paper. Dr Manda published six articles in peer-reviewed journals during his tenure at UNISA. 

In 2018, Dr Manda was appointed as a Research  Associate at the University of Pretoria (UP) as a principal researcher in the project “Pastoral Engagement in psychological, moral, and spiritual injury”. During this time, he engaged the theology and or behavioral science disciplines to come up with a holistic narrative model of care for people and communities exposed to trauma. On November 28, 2019, his book was published: Re-authoring Life Narratives after Trauma: A holistic narrative model of care.

The book is an interdisciplinary, specialist resource for traumatic stress researchers, practitioners, and frontline workers who focus their research and work on communities from diverse religious backgrounds that are confronted with trauma, death, illness, and other existential crises. Thus Manda developed a holistic narrative model of care that must integrate an understanding of and respect for the many forms of religion and spirituality that clients might have. It will not only bring a spiritual perspective into the psychotherapeutic dialogue, but it will also assist in dealing with the different demands in pastoral ministry as related to clinical and post-traumatic settings.