This Week in GI History: Manresa, Spain
This week we mark the anniversary of one of the Institute's defining events: the 2003 Building Social Cohesion in the Midst of Diversity and Migration conference held in Manresa, Spain.
At that Event, community leaders from over 20 cities gathered to explore best practices from their practical experiences building social cohesion. The Conference came together over the central questions of:
- How do we promote a positive view of difference and build a sense of social cohesion in the midst of diversity?
- Where have people been effective at building relationships of trust, understanding and cooperation between diverse communities?
- How can we best learn from those communities that have successfully built trust amongst their diverse communities?
The collaborative learning, strategies and conversations at the Event provided tools for participants to bring solutions back to their respective cities. To find out more on how this was accomplished, view the full report on our findings of the conference. here.
Thirteen years have passed since the Manresa Event, but the issue of how communities in sizable cities overcome the division and tensions often caused by their diverse populations, remains as relevant as it was in 2003. In many ways, we were fortunate to make the connections with a group of talented and committed leaders willing to address the issue head-on, as it has proven to be prescient and set the tone for future project work.
[slide][img path="images/2003___17.jpg"] Goldin Institute co-founder Diane Goldin with participants at the 2003 Maresa, Spain Event. [/img] [/slide]
This Week in GI History and Building on a Key Past Event
This week we mark the anniversary of one of the Institute's defining events: the 2003 Building Social Cohesion in the Midst of Diversity and Migration conference held in Manresa, Spain.
At that Event, community leaders from over 20 cities gathered to explore best practices from their practical experiences building social cohesion. The Conference came together over the central questions of:
- How do we promote a positive view of difference and build a sense of social cohesion in the midst of diversity?
- Where have people been effective at building relationships of trust, understanding and cooperation between diverse communities?
- How can we best learn from those communities that have successfully built trust amongst their diverse communities?
The collaborative learning, strategies and conversations at the Event provided tools for participants to bring solutions back to their respective cities. To find out more on how this was accomplished, view the full report on our findings of the conference. here.
In the time since we held the Manresa Event, the issue of how communities in sizable cities overcome the division and tensions often caused by their diverse populations, remains as relevant as it was in 2003. In many ways, we were fortunate to make the connections with a group of talented and committed leaders willing to address the issue head-on, as it has proven to be prescient and set the tone for future project work.
Which brings us to new events and the ways in which we continue to honor our mission, and honor those we work with dedicated to bringing social cohesion to their communities. This week, two of our associates from Chicago, Alexis Smyser and Srishtee Dear, are in attendance with our colleagues in Colombia at the Foundation for Reconciliation conference in Bogota. Here, participants from several countries review and reinforce the key principals of the ESPERE methods that the Foundation has been refining since first introducing in 2007.
The ESPERE methodology is engaging new community leaders, former child soldiers and educators in the proven concepts of reconciliation and forgiveness. What began as a grassroots project by Fr. Leonel and his team in Bogota less than a decade ago has now flourished to see participation throughout North and South America and recently to Africa. Partners of the Goldin Institute in Uganda have taken up the ESPERE methodology and have used is as a powerful tool in the reintegration for former child soldiers.
[hl bg="#d07000" fg="#ffffff"]Continue to follow us as we share new learnings and outcomes from this latest conference in Bogota. See how the common theme of social cohesion that began 12 years ago in Manresa is alive and well and being proven highly adaptive in new environments and by new leaders bringing positive change to their communities.[/hl]
[slide][img path="images/2003___17.jpg"] Goldin Institute co-founder Diane Goldin with participants at the 2003 Maresa, Spain Event. [/img] [/slide]
Poignant Child Soldier Stories Connect with Wider Audience
In our own efforts to try and get the word out about the plight of child soldiers, and the progress that is being made towards former young combatants we work with in returning to civil society – we're always interested in new ways to connect with those who wish to help.
Visiting our website, you will find the personal stories of those involved in bringing attention to the issue, while they also work on sustainable and proven ways to create positive change in their communities, so that fomer child soldiers have opportunites for positive change in their own lives. Whether bringing you the ongoing project work we are doing in Colombia and Latin America with our two associates Lissette and Fr. Leonel, or updating you on the expansion of the successful national platform we helped develop with our colleagues on the ground in Uganda, we continue to explore ways to make a difficult story to tell, more compelling and personal to those who wish to make a difference by knowing the stories.
With that in mind, we are excited about a 'retelling' and fresh way of letting you know about our work in child soldier reintegration. In coming weeks, we'll look at ways to adapt a more personal approach to feature some of the key voices that have inspired us to stay committed to the issue.
Until then, we invite you to view the work by someone who is already telling the ordeal of the child soldier in a new way. With interactive storytelling, Marc Ellison and his graphic novel style communicates the plight of several former female child soldiers, but still conveys the hopefullness of those having the courage to tell their story. Ellison's work is featured in this profile story. A link depicting the story of one of the former child soldiers (Christine) is at Ellison's site.
Colombia Brings Reconciliation Methods to Uganda
In the tradition of the Goldin Institute's Forgiveness and Reconciliation Project, and utilizing the ESPERE methodology developed with our colleagues in Colombia, our efforts towards building child soldier reintegration continues throughout Northern Uganda.
As our Global Associate on the ground in Uganda (Denis Okello) recently reported to us in this summary paper, both Kitgum and Amuru districts have suffered greatly from armed violence and conflict. The instability in the area results in the ongoing recruitment and coercion of countless adults and children into the rebel forces. As Denis tells it, "in some way or capacity, each and every household in Northern Uganda has suffered the direct effects of the conflict in terms of abduction, death, displacement, poverty or illness." Against this backdrop, both districts serve as ideal communities to workshop the methods of ESPERE, bringing effective training to those within the community wishing to cope with the effects of war – and also those hoping to better their lives.
In the Kitgum District, Denis' report focused on a workshop conducted specifically for secondary and vocational school teachers. Here, educators could be equipped with the knowledge and skills on the process of forgiveness and reconciliation in order for them to effectively respond to the needs of their students who have been directly impacted by the civil war that they have grown up in.
In the Amuru District, Denis overviewed the specific training to former child combatants, young mothers, and orphaned young adults of the conflict who have been left to become the 'heads' of their households. Denis provided the history and background, and explained that within Amuru, the sub-county of Pabbo was one of the first and largest camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) during the LRA War between 1986 and 2006. After the end of hostilities in 2006, the displaced persons, former combatants, victims of atrocities and children born from captivity within the LRA, flooded back to many parts of Pabbo. It is important to point out that Denis and his own family have been impacted by the conflict's history and because of his training directly from our Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa, was uniquely qualified to be one of the three facilitators of Amuru Workshop.
Workshops Follow Ongoing Committment to the Issue of Child Soldiers
The trainings held by Denis and his team on the ground in both Kitgum and Amuru Districts, would not have been possible without prior research conducted in Northern Uganda with former child soldiers. Released late last year, we published the guide, Alone and Frightened, to provide first-hand accounts and experiential stories of former child soldiers affected by the brutal war pitting the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) against the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF). Our extensive research with our partners in the region (including our former Global Associate from Kenya, Dr. Dorcas Kipligat, who served as the Project Coordinator to the report), provides an ongoing resource guide to all new workshops being conducted in Africa.
Readers familiar with the origins of the ESPERE methodology, will remember that it is made up several modules reinforcing the two phases of forgiveness and reconciliation. A link to an early version of what this looked liked as it was piloted in Colombia can be found here. The slideshow that we have put together at the end of this story is remarkable in the consistencies between the exercises in Latin America and those taking place to make up the workshops in Uganda.
We are excited to see from the expansion of the project from Latin America to East Africa, how in spite of the cultural, ethnic and societal differences between two unique continents and their people, the methods being shared for forgiveness and reconciliation are held in common. What we are learning in facilitating these trainings is the universal nature of how most all people impacted by conflict have the capacity to embrace these methods. Please follow along in the narrative slideshow below to see this happening in Kitgum and Amuru.
Uganda: Forgiveness and Change Starts At Home
Working towards the peaceful evolution of their country, two Uganda-based organizations, the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) and the Interreligious Council of Uganda (IRCU) worked closely to conduct two workshops using the ESPERE Methodology in January and early February 2015 in the District of Gulu. The facilitators for the workshops had the benefit of being trained at the June 2014 workshop in Uganda led and organized by our Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa. Each successful attendee will carry forward the accomplishments and lessons learned from their participation to benefit their communities at large.
The workshops were developed to cater to the specific needs of the local program participants. The first workshop held Jan. 21–28, 2015 focused on those who were victims or survivors of the May 2004 Lukodi Massacre wherein the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) raided and carried out an attack that led to the deaths of over 60 individuals in the town of Lukodi in Gulu District. The workshop itself was held at Lukodi Primary School and many of the participants were members of the Lukodi Reconciliation Team, a group made up of victims and survivors of the Massacre. Facilitator and participants alike exhibited strong enthusiasm for the program and despite literacy challenges, the group completed all eleven modules.
The second workshop was conducted from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, 2015 at Laroo Boarding Primary School in Laroo Division; Gulu Municipality. Participants consisted of 15 teachers from five Primary Schools all of which offer educational services to those in need including, formerly abducted persons, child mothers, street children and those with special needs. Program participants from this workshop as well were successful in completing all eleven modules.
The Modules of ESPERE – An Overview and How They Were Used
The ESPERE methodology uses a standard procedure in its approach to the process of forgiveness, refined slightly for each unique participant set. Similar to the June 2014 workshop, eleven modules shaped the program. Listening exercises at the onset of the workshop helped each participant understand the importance of being an active listener and an active participator.
The first module paired individuals together to form a safe space wherein each person spoke about the experience that had hurt or traumatized them. In the second module, participants learned through role playing how aggression affects emotions, thoughts, and behavior and determines the consequences of pain on physical and emotional health. Program participants found themselves identifying with the fictional role they were playing; prompting many to further share stories of instances where rage worked as a blindfold preventing them from seeing clearly. Program participants made a commitment to help others come out of the darkness created by rage.
In the third module, participants were led through a process of choice; participants had the choice of selecting unknown wrapped items, each item symbolizing an alternative leading to forgiveness. Ultimately, each participant actively chose to forgive and made a commitment of hope. After choosing to forgive, the fourth module focused on perspective, emphasizing that no two people will interpret a situation in the same way and many times someone will commit offenses for reasons that they deem as justified. Understanding these reasons helps provide a new perspective of the offender, resulting in a possible step towards common ground.
This led directly into module five which prompted participants to make a list of both positive and negative aspects of their offenders and imagine a meeting with that offender. Module six had participants in a very literal sense of the phrase, wash away the pain. The symbolic gesture, after speaking about their offenses, choosing forgiveness, and attempting to understand their offender brought relief to some and a step in the right direction for many program participants. The next four modules took program participants through the identification of valued principles, caring for and protecting principles, and most importantly, rebuilding and restoring broken principles. Participants were given ideas to repair broken principles, including conversation initiators, apologies, or a symbolic act as reparation - ultimately to reestablish a relationship. Finally, the last module provided practical understanding that although painful memories may never be completely forgotten, reworking them helps participants enter into the state of communion with freedom, solidarity and peace.
Most inspiring, despite their traumatizing past, the human spirit moved the Gulu participants in the workshop with the end goal of connecting with their brethren and looking towards a better future; proving once again that forgiveness and reconciliation rises above hate, and furthers the advancement of humanity.
To view the full report and see more photos from the ESPERE-Uganda Project, see this link. To find out how to take a more active role and support our work building grassroots partnerships like the ones we've established in Africa and Colombia, please visit here.
[slide] [img path="images/10967360_796381027082475_2015717359_o.jpg"] Gulu Workshops - Photo credit: Denis Okello and our team in Uganda. [/img] [img path="images/10969438_796378030416108_1287229658_o.jpg"] Gulu Workshops - Photo credit: Denis Okello and our team in Uganda. [/img] [img path="images/10967610_796379823749262_1998732302_o.jpg"] Gulu Workshops - Photo credit: Denis Okello and our team in Uganda. [/img] [img path="images/10964665_796381547082423_1222004002_o.jpg"] Gulu Workshops - Photo credit: Denis Okello and our team in Uganda. [/img] [img path="images/10965657_796383453748899_711227497_n.jpg"] Gulu Workshops - Photo credit: Denis Okello and our team in Uganda. [/img][/slide]
Sworn Enemies Show Path to Peace
We like stories like this from Colombia that illustrate the power of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Hector Perea and Jhon Obando were once on opposite sides of the armed conflict between FARC and the government paramilitary. But in their personal journeys to escape the violence they grew up into, they found themselves working side-by-side at a Colombian timber company that is bringing former enemies together.
[quote]Forgiveness is accepting the past and seeing people not through what side of the war they were on but as civilians with rights," he said over the din of wood cutting machines at the factory outside Cali, Colombia's third city, a seven-hour drive west of the capital Bogota. All of us working together is an example that reconciliation is possible. Colombia needs to know it's possible if people are given an opportunity."[/quote]
- Hector Perea
Those concepts—forgiveness and reconciliation—are the cornerstones for the ESPERE program being run by our Global Associate in Bogota, Lissette Mateus. You can read more about Lissette's recent expansion of the project here. Lissette's mentor and advisor on the project, Fr. Leonel Narvaez (and partner to the Institute) spoke recently on how the advancement of their curriculum is making an impact across Colombia to folks like Hector and Jhon.
December 2014 Newsletter
As the weather in Chicago cools down, the work of the Goldin Institute around the world is heating up! Take a look at our latest work as we begin to look forward to the new year–and beyond.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
ESPERE Project Expands International Reach
On November 21 and 22 the Perdon Y Cuidado (Forgiveness and Care) conference was held in Mexico City, Mexico. Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa helped to coordinate this international conference exploring the ESPERE methodology first established in her home country of Colombia.
Key members of the Institute's team also took part including Denis Okello of Uganda, Sebastian Sosman and new Advisory Board member Akif Irfan (pictured above). Our long-time partner Father Leonel Narvaez of the Colombian peace-building organization Foundation for Reconciliation delivered a powerful keynote address emphasizing that dialogue without understanding has limited results.
[quote]Violence is the failure of dialogue."[/quote]
- Fr. Leonel Narvaez
Sebastian Sosman captured the spirit of Fr. Leonel's remarks and gives perspective in his personal reflections on how the ESPERE program is highly adaptable to other regions of the world.
[quote]"Mexico City 2014 was a courageous meeting that provided hope in achieving the intended aims of ESPERE and I believe we shall cause changes in the lives of the people who have been suffering from the 20 years insurgency by the LRA in Northern Uganda."[/quote]
- Denis Okello, Goldin Institute Uganda
For more photos and a complete summary of the Mexico City Event, please click here.
Good to the Last Drop
Clean Water Milestone in the Philippines
On November 10, our friends in the Philippines celebrated the significant accomplishment of completing access to clean water to 100% of the schools in the Kabuntalan municipality of the Maguindanao province!
Twelve water pumps were ceremoniously turned over as a result of the partnership between people of Maguindanao, the Goldin Institute, the Department of Education and the Philippine Army. In particular, we tip our hats to Dr. Susanna Anayatin and her team who understand that access to clean water has a ripple effect throughout the region.
One student offered his optimism created by a new well supplying clean water to an elementary school:
[quote]Despite the pitcher-water we had, we were always still searching for a source of water because it was not enough for our needs, now we have enough water for all of us."[/quote]
View the progress of the water project at our interactive map. We look forward to working with the Kabuntalan municipality as they serve as a model for other regions to working together to provide clean water to their residents.
Connecting the Dots in Kenya
Mapping the Social Capital of Kenya
The Goldin Institute's Executive Director Travis Rejman recently participated in a meeting convened by World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
The Washington D.C. meeting gathered scholars, social-entrepreneurs and community leaders to discuss objectives, outputs and potential entry points for a planned research program in Kenya. Overall strategies were discussed to ensure that all of the resources working in Kenya could better coordinate and collaborate more effectively. A particular focus on strengthening the role of local leaders to help monitor transparency to break down the widespreadcorruption.
Because of his background and experience working on partnerships in Kenya and Uganda, Mr. Rejman was able to help explore the intersection of religious diversity and public policy challenges when working directly within the region.
Haiti in Chicago
Visiting the Haitian American Museum of Chicago
The Goldin Institute recently made a visit to the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC) to coincide with their second anniversary. This was a significant milestone for Founder Elsie Hernandez, and also for the City of Chicago, as her plans for the museum dated back 12 years before finally being able to break ground in 2012.
The Museum is the first of its kind in the Midwest and was established to provide a space to promote Haitian history, culture and art. Given our work in Haiti, the HAMOC provides a natural partnership for outreach opportunities as it grows and evolves into a premier cultural institution in Chicago!
Next Newsletter
Watch our next newsletter for an exciting progress update from our partners around the world.
In the interim, get your Goldin Institute fix by jumping onto our Facebook page for the latest news as it happens and join the growing community dedicated to uplifting stories of grassroots partnerships around the world at the tumblr site GoGrassroots!
As always, if you have suggestions of individuals who may want to receive this e-newsletter or stories you think we should tell, contact us at news@goldininstitute.org.
Goldin Institute Successfully Returns to Uganda
This June, Institute co-founders Diane Goldin and Travis Rejman returned to Uganda to participate in our first ever cross-continental Child Soldier Reintegration and Reconciliation Training Workshops. Because of her work in developing and using the ESPERE methodology in her native Colombia, our Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa was the natural candidate to lead the training in Uganda.
Before bringing this project to Africa, Lissette worked closely with our partner and her advisor, Fr. Leonel Narvaez designing and successfully testing the ESPERE methodology to engage local communities by using schools as centers for reconciliation for former child soldiers in the region. We highlighted their work and what this looks like on-the-ground in Colombia in previous reports.
To best adapt the training to our colleagues in Africa, an intensive eight-day workshop was conducted wherein participants learned about the key concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation, and obtained tools to carry these ideas forward within their communities.
In all, Lissette successfully trained 16 individuals made up of child combatants, teachers, crisis counselors and community members. These participants represented five different regions of Northern Africa and because each certified trainer committed to individual action plans upon completion, the outreach within their communities will impact many more potential trainees. In short, Lissette has left a "teaching tree" model in place that we hope to see expand and carry forth the ESPERE program within the region.
[quote]My expectations were different than the reality in Africa, normally the mass media shows to the world the bad things about Africa, I was expecting some kind of hungry people, in a dusty or dirty environment, waiting for water and food. But, I realized (once there and on the ground) that they have needs, but also they have so many good things that the mass media doesn't talk about: they are a happy and generous people, (there are) amazing buildings for education, they are bilinguals and have spoken their own language and English since they were kids, they have some kind of sense of community that we have lost in our developed societies, and is highly necessary for healing our societies – they are ahead of the game in that sense. I realized we have as many things to learn from them as they can learn from us. I'm not saying everything is perfect, I'm just saying that not everything is bad, and there is great hope for the future because of the people. Moreover, I was expecting a very rough place but it was a beautiful place for the workshop."[/quote]
- Global Associate and program facilitator, Lissette Mateus Roa
Lissette's excerpted comments above are from a conversation with her upon her return from Africa. The full interview can be found here.
In coming months, we look forward to sharing the results of the action plans established by the trainees at Lissette's ESPERE workshop, as they carry out the mission to bring societal changes to their own communities in Northern Africa. If you would like to become more involved supporting this project, find out how you can help.
[slide] [img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_1.jpg"]Co-founder's Diane Goldin and Travis Rejman meet with Everest Okwonga, the Principal at St. Janani Luwum Vocational Training Centre[/img] [img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_2.jpg"]Co-founder's Diane Goldin and Travis Rejman meet with students at a trade school for former child combatants in Gulu[/img] [img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_3.jpg"]Co-founder Diane Goldin meets with students in a Gulu classroom during the Institute's June2014 trip to the region to take part on child soldier reintegration efforts[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_4.jpg"]Participants of a workshop conducted by Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa take part in one of the exercises teaching 'forgiveness'[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_5.jpg"] Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa (bottom left) and her group of ESPERE students. Also included is friend and colleague and Associate emeritus Dr. Dorcas Kiplagat (standing 5th from right)[/img] [img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_6.jpg"]Participants of the ESPERE workshop during a training session[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_7.jpg"]Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa (standing) leads a training session in Gulu[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_9.jpg"]Global Associate Lissette Mateus conducts an exercise with participants of the ESPERE workshop in June 2014[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_15.jpg"]Global Associate Lissette Mateus (sitting foreground) leads her ESPERE training group[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_28.jpg"]Co-founder Diane Goldin meets with students at the St Janani Vocational School. The School is made up of mostly former child soldiers learning new skills (like carpentry in this classroom) to rejoin civilian life.[/img] [img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_27.jpg"]The workshop attended by former child combatants[/img][img path="images/slideshow/full/uganda2014_34.jpg"]Institute co-founder Diane Goldin meets with Ajok Dorah - a psychologist specializing in giving counsel to former child combatants returning to their communities.[/img][/slide]