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Yet in the opening exercise, students from Nigeria and Sierra Leone said they brought \u201chappiness\u201d; a man from Haiti, \u201cfriendship\u201d; a learner from Iran, \u201clove, peace and justice\u201d; a Liberian guest, \u201cexcitement.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Hope\u201d was a component of many responses hung from a clothesline and spoken to all assembled. \u201cCheer\u201d was the reply by Rowan Mundhenk, a program coordinator for the past year and a half with Mennonite Central Committee in Cairo.<\/p>\n
Mundhenk, an American, is taking one of three new courses offered at SPI – \u00a0\u201cArts and Media-Based Peacebuilding\u201d – to gain understanding of the social media credited with sparking Egypt\u2019s nonviolent revolution. Although deposed dictator Mubarak briefly shut down Internet and mobile access, Mundhenk says, \u201cFrom what I heard, it was too late.\u201d Activists, already informed through Facebook and Twitter, had taken to the streets.<\/p>\n
Now, Mundhenk added, \u201cNo one knows what will happen.\u201d Meanwhile, MCC is \u201cworking with local partners to build peaceful relations and help with trauma healing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faisa Loyaan, who works on conflict transformation with non-governmental organizations in eastern Africa, is taking the \u201cPractice\u201d course in peacebuilding skills because \u201cI want to learn some of the tools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although civil war, famine and piracy may be all many Americans hear of her native country, Loyaan, who now lives in Kenya, insists, \u201cIt\u2019s a very distorted story, what you see on the news. There are a lot of good things happening in Somalia.\u201d<\/p>\n
CJP professor Howard Zehr \u2013 who teaches and has pioneered restorative justice \u2013 says peacebuilders can get too serious. He promised to bring \u201ca sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lilian Burlando, from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, announced delightedly, \u201cI brought part of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n Burlando\u2019s three traveling companions include daughter Karina Echazu, a prosecutor who found her earlier SPI study of restorative justice meaningful. She calls the concept, not widely accepted in either American or Argentine courts, \u201ca change that has to be done little by little.\u201d Echazu noted restorative principles can be applied in more traditional criminal-justice settings. She cited a recent pre-sentencing hearing when a child-abuser expressed remorse \u2013 which her office in turn reported to the victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n Burlando operates a center for counseling and interfaith dialogue. Attending her fourth SPI, she also brought a high-school student granddaughter, and grandson Joaco Echazu. He\u2019s studying \u201cConflict- Sensitive Development,\u201d which he hopes to apply in public-security management as well as mission work.<\/p>\n About half of SPI learners come from North America; the rest from around the world, according to director Sue Williams. Enrollment is down this year, though more arrivals are expected. Williams advised anyone encountering cultural or language misunderstandings to recall their own embarrassing errors, like requesting \u201ca fried umbrella to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n CJP graduate students Francis Miller and Daryl Snider led a group rhythm-making exercise. Waves of sound moved across the auditorium, produced by rubbing hands together, slapping thighs and snapping fingers.<\/p>\n Classes began shortly after voices from 23 nations sang, \u201cThe Peace of the Earth Be With You.\u201d<\/p>\n – Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer living in Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/SPI-3-300x200.jpg\")