BLACKMAN BAUSI FOUNDATION
“We have no future without finding forgiveness and healing trauma.”
-Blackman Bausi
Blackman Bausi
Born from rape, in a part of the world known as the capital of sexual violence, Blackman is a peace advocate, humanitarian rapper and missionary. Based in eastern DR Congo with his wife, Jenn, they work to teach leadership, critical thinking and forgiveness through biblical discipleship and art therapy. They start with a foundation of mental health; what is it, why is it important, and how do we have positive mental health even in some of the most unstable and insecure parts of the world?
"I can't control what you do to me, but I can control how I respond" -Blackman Bausi
OUR IMPACT
35
LEADERS TRAINED
60+
DISCOVERY GROUPS
7
TRAUMA HEALING GROUPS
we are passionate about peace, justice and forgiveness
Our focus is investing in global communities to overcome trauma by teaching leadership, critical thinking and forgiveness. In doing so, we tackle social stigmas.
We are based in an active war zone in DR Congo, deemed the world capital of sexual violence. Rape has become a weapon of war in this epidemic where communities are crippled by trauma. Trauma from the atrocities of war are not talked about due mainly to the associated stigmas of rape and intense shame. Thousands of children are born out of rape every year and these children are considered a shame to their communities. Unforgiveness has become a burden the people carry with them because they cannot forgive their assailants. Shame and unforgiveness weigh down society and prevent people and their communities from healing and moving forward.
Additionally, society in this region was not taught to think critically and develop their own thoughts and feelings, which further enables these long standing stigmas to continue to adversely affect communities. The cycle of violence and shame are perpetuated by the acceptance of these stereotypes subconsciously held against victims of war.
We see many leaders with the potential ability to positively impact their communities, but the stigmas, shame and unforgiveness prevent them from achieving their full potential.
Our work is to bring awareness to trauma and teach the people how to overcome the stigmas and shame to find the forgiveness they need which in turn heals the trauma. Leadership and critical thinking are important and allows them to understand that forgiveness is for themselves, their communities, and their future and not their assailants. We use the bible and Jesus’s teachings on forgiveness to teach our local leaders critical thinking and forgiveness. Through discipleship, we are able to share these teachings with their communities, ultimately in conjunction with art therapy.
Discipleship
This is simply teaching others what you know and reinforcing it by living an example. We train leaders who train leaders. Small groups in local communities meet weekly to read the Bible, discover the Word of God and how to apply these teachings to our lives. We focus first on forgiveness and strongly believe forgiveness allows us a healthy relationship with ourselves and ultimately our community.
art therapy
We believe in using creativity to express our trauma and play a part in our healing. Art therapy is a specialized area of mental health that uses art materials, writing, dance, etc and the creative process to explore emotions, reduce anxiety, increase self-esteem, and bring healing to deep seeded traumas.