Jean Pierre Ndagijimana knows from personal experience the impact of accumulated stress from genocide and war. This awareness and his fierce hope have pushed him to dedicate his life to public health psychology by supporting his community through education, training and coaching. Although his particular focus is on helping people learn to regulate the accumulated stress reaction caused by trauma, he also provides training and coaching to professionals, students and people in general to educate them about healthy habits of stress regulation.
Jean Pierre coined the Kinyarwanda word UBU as a tool for stress regulation. Learning to be in the now or UBU means learning to live in the present moment, something that sounds simple but is challenging to do. Becoming aware and recognizing when we are thinking about what has happened in the past and worries of what might happen in the future can exacerbate stress.
Jean Pierre Ndagijimana is the Co-Founder and Director of Talk Recovery® Training Rwanda. Jean Pierre also uses various types of social media such as WhatsApp Ubu for his training efforts and Facebook TRT-Rwanda
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2013–Present: Director of Talk Recovery Training Rwanda (TRT Rwanda) Ltd
2015 – Training – Team Building One UN.
2015- Stress Regulation Training One Acre Fund (Tubura)
2015- Trauma/Stress Regulation Training for Genocide Commemoration Crisis Health Workers at the National University
2014- Invited by the National Radio to present and discuss with audience the relationship between wounds from history and domestic violence in families.
2014- Trauma/Stress Regulation Training for Genocide Commemoration Crisis Health Workers at the National University
2014: Radio program during commemoration, discussing trauma crisis intervention techniques.
2014- Created WhatsApp UBU (group) for ongoing stress regulation training and support
2013 – National Television and National Radio program during commemoration of genocide trauma/crisis prevention and intervention strategies
2013: Initiated Laughter yoga clubs in Rwanda in partnership with Counselling Envisioning Community International experts.
2013- Co-facilitator at Life Wounds Healing Association (LIWOHA) in retreats entitled: “healing wounds of history and family conflicts resolutions”.
2013-2014: Psychology consultant for Musicians without Borders helping HIV positive youth
2012: Researcher and Translator at Women’s Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTX for Hope), in collaboration with researchers from Illinois School of Professional psychology (Chicago)
2012-2013: Trainer and Advocacy Program Officer at Rwandan Organization for the Promotion of the Human Rights and Solidarity of the Mentally ill (OPROMAMER), a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Psychiatric Hospital of Ndera.
2011-2013: President of Clinical Psychology Students’ Association of Rwanda (CPSAR). In 2013: Awarded for outstanding leadership as the President of CPSAR for two yearlong mandates.
2009: High School Teacher at Mutura Secondary School
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2013- : Mount Kenya University (MKU), Master of Public Health, International Health and Development, currently working on his thesis: Perception of Stress among National University Students
2010-2013: National University of Rwanda (NUR), Bachelor of Science, Clinical Psychology with Honors/Upper Division, Thesis: The 1994 Genocide and Post-Genocide Domestic Violence
March-June, 2013: Life Wounds Healing Association—Institute of Africa Integration Psychology, Community Mental Health Approach for Gender Based Violence Prevention Training
SKILLS
Languages: Kinyarwanda (Native), English (Advanced Proficiency), French (Good)
Computer: Web 2.0 and social media for development, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint