{"id":6873,"date":"2011-05-25T11:51:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T15:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=6873"},"modified":"2011-07-07T10:35:25","modified_gmt":"2011-07-07T14:35:25","slug":"two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/p>\n

For both Sam Gbaydee Doe<\/strong> and Al Fuertes<\/strong>, the vocation of peacebuilding was forged in the trauma of civil war. In Doe\u2019s native Liberia, 10 percent of the population perished. For Fuertes, growing up on the Philippine island Mindanao, one of the world\u2019s longest recent wars seemed \u201ca given.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, over more than a decade, both men have been familiar faces at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Harrisonburg, Va., first as students and later \u2013 including this summer \u2013 faculty.<\/p>\n

Doe sought a place to recover from the trauma in Liberia, as well as seek ways to prevent such disasters, when he first attended SPI In 1996.<\/p>\n

After earning a master\u2019s from EMU\u2019s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Doe worked with later CJP graduate Emmanuel Bombande to launch the West African Network for Peacebuilding. WANEP works with intergovernmental bodies on human rights and education while training local volunteers to spot \u201cearly warning signs\u201d of violence.<\/p>\n

Doe received EMU\u2019s Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and earned a doctorate in 2010 from the UK\u2019s University of Bradford. He has mentored fellow-African SPI alumni including Leymah Gbowee, who organized Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace; fellow-Liberian Mack Mulbah, who established a peer mediation program; and Takwa Suifon, a research analyst from Cameroon.<\/p>\n

Since 2005, Doe has worked for the United Nations, serving in Fiji before becoming a Development and Reconciliation Advisor in Sri Lanka in 2007. In the wake of Sri Lanka\u2019s long civil war, challenges include resolving conflict between Tamil and Sinhalese communities.<\/p>\n

In his \u201cConflict-Sensitive Development and Peacebuilding\u201d SPI course this May, Doe had students address the interrelated problems of \u201cTala,\u201d a fictional name for a country struggling with issues resembling Uganda\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Students find that \u201cdevelopment\u201d in less-powerful nations may entail profiteers exploiting a less-regulated environment: \u201cYou\u2019re not building factories; you\u2019re only taking the trees, taking the oil. It leaves a lot of people disempowered,\u201d Doe says. He hopes CJP, like WANEP, can evolve to \u201cengage on the policy level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on a recent visit to his extended family, Doe says, \u201cLiberia is on a path of healing, but healing takes a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Al Fuertes, who taught the "Trauma Awareness and Transformation" course at SPI this year, enjoys the opening welcome session of the 2011 Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Behind Al is Babu Ayindo, another MA graduate of EMU, who taught "Arts and Media-based Peacebuilding." Photo by Lindsey Kolb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In May, as Al Fuertes finished teaching his SPI course, \u201cTrauma Awareness and Transformation,\u201d he was preparing to lead a George Mason University student group to the Philippines, where he directs a global education program.<\/p>\n

Fuertes was a youth-camp leader, organizer and pastor in Mindanao before his first visit to EMU (then Eastern Mennonite College) as an undergraduate with the 1990-91 International Visitors Exchange Program.<\/p>\n

He has participated in SPI as a student, dorm resident assistant, and –\u00a0 from 2001-04 as well as this summer – teacher.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fuertes has taught for 10 years in GMU\u2019s multidisciplinary New Century College on topics including the refugee experience, forgiveness in divided communities, trauma healing and spirituality. He earned his doctorate at GMU, where he received the 2008 Teaching Excellence Award.<\/p>\n

Fuertes\u2019 book, Community-Based Warviews,<\/em> focuses on displaced communities with whom he has worked: Karen refugees (many having lived 40 years in camps on the Thai-Burmese border) and those in Mindanao. He also writes about the importance of humanitarian groups asking beneficiaries what they need rather than deciding for them. He\u2019s working on a book that draws from his popular spirituality class.<\/p>\n

In teaching, Fuertes employs hands-on activities, storytelling and reflection. \u201cTrauma,\u201d he notes, is not only a clinical condition but one that affects whole communities. In SPI courses, despite the shared peacebuilding commitment, he finds, \u201cSome members of a class may meet people there whom they believed to be their enemies.\u201d That is how powerful learning challenges may begin.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

–Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer living in Harrisonburg.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For both Sam Gbaydee Doe and Al Fuertes, the vocation of peacebuilding was forged in the trauma of civil war. In Doe\u2019s native Liberia, 10 percent of the population perished. ... read more about Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":6878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12503,12499],"tags":[13759],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-6873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cjp","category-spi","tag-sam-g-doe"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For both Sam Gbaydee Doe and Al Fuertes, the vocation of peacebuilding was forged in the trauma of civil war. In Doe\u2019s native Liberia, 10 percent of the population perished.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-25T15:51:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-07T14:35:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/\",\"name\":\"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-25T15:51:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-07T14:35:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg\",\"width\":\"610\",\"height\":\"370\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News","og_description":"For both Sam Gbaydee Doe and Al Fuertes, the vocation of peacebuilding was forged in the trauma of civil war. In Doe\u2019s native Liberia, 10 percent of the population perished.","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2011-05-25T15:51:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-07-07T14:35:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":610,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/","name":"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-25T15:51:03+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-07T14:35:25+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/05\/sam-doe-11.jpg","width":"610","height":"370"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/two-spi-learnersteachers-who-keep-coming-back\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two SPI learners\/teachers who keep coming back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6873"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7152,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6873\/revisions\/7152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6873"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=6873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}