Imagine a theatrical performance with no starting script. Several actors listen intently to a volunteer from the audience tell a first-person story. On the cue, ...More
February 20th, 2014
Summer Peacebuilding Institute
CJP faculty member Hizkias Assefa leads mediation to ease suffering in South Sudan
Thousands of men, women and children displaced and otherwise suffering from the impact of war in Jonglei – the largest, most populated state in South Sudan – may see their situation become less desperate as a result of mediation efforts led by Hizkias Assefa, a founding faculty member of the Center f ...More
Preventing burnout, among other attributes of organizational health, leads to more effective work
Where there is a food emergency, agencies like the UN World Food Programme rightly devote the majority of their time, resources and attention to those suffering directly from a food shortage. But paying no mind at all to the needs of staff working for a relief agency like the WFP, says Ilaria Dettori, is a recipe for burnout and organizati ...More
“Where There Was Despair, They Saw Hope” – Summer Peacebuilding Institute 2013 Wraps Up
Many of the 196 attendees at this year’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) had survived devastating loss and trauma. Yet the final week of that gathering at Eastern Mennonite University began with an evening of infectious joy. SPI learners – representing 43 nations over six weeks of sessions, May 6-June 14 – did line and contra dancing, ...More
South Pacific Women Challenge Abuses
In Olga Hamadi’s line of work as a human rights lawyer in West Papua, death threats are common. Violence and human rights violations are plentiful and sorely overlooked, Hamadi said, and police and military personnel who victimize her clients often turn the blame on her. While there are many lawyers in West Papua – one of two Indonesian provinces on the Southwest Pacific isla ...More
Dark Beatings, Not Just Sunny Beaches, for Many in South Pacific
Sun, unblemished beaches, friendly islanders who like to dance in grass skirts, slow pace of life. A great place to be a tourist. These images dominate the Western media in reference to the South Pacific. “At once a sanctuary and playground, our magical resort [in Fiji] offers blissful reverie to those who seek intimate peace and quiet, or spirited adventure for thrill seekers,” read ...More
Mexican Pastor Lobbies for Religious Tolerance
“In order to survive we have to do a lot of things,” explains Carlos Martinez-Garcia, as he responds to a reporter’s question by listing the various hats he wears: human rights activist, Anabaptist pastor, sociologist, journalist, author of ten books. Martinez-Garcia directs Mennonite theological education in Mexico, a program partly supported by ...More
Anonymous Donor Enables Liberian to Enhance His Organizational Leadership
Liberia is country of complexity and turmoil in which 85 percent of the population of 3.7 million people live under the international poverty line. Colonized in 1820 by freed blacks from the United States, Liberia has suffered two back-to-back civil wars that have left the country politically unstable and economically bereft. It is in this context that Maxim Kumeh has devoted his life’ ...More
USAID-Supported Somali Women Gain Peacebuilding Skills
It’s a diverse group of five women. Among their many roles and areas of expertise, one can find law, information technology, business administration, political advocacy, rehabilitating youth with the UNDP, and a graduate degree in gender and development. In common are their Somali ethnicity, Muslim faith, and burning desire to prepare themselves and nurture other women for playing major roles ...More