We join with many people around the world today in the launching of the Charter for Compassion, an initiative begun by Karen Armstrong and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. With a council of 18 members of diverse faiths and diverse cultures, Karen Armstrong has created a document to motivate us to put compassion into our faith actions, our prayers, and our interactions with others. We will gather at the Franciscan Family Center with other religious men and women this afternoon, November 12, 2009, at 3:30pm, in Nairobi, Kenya to mark this occasion.
Our prayer of compassion for the world will include what we universally accept as the golden rule, as found in the scriptures of various religions:
Christianity: “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; this is the Law and the Prophets.” Mt 7:12
Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” Sunnah
Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as our own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” T’ai shang Kan Ying P’ien
Confucianism: “Is there one maxim which ought to be acted on throughout one’s whole life? Surely it is the maxim of loving kindness: do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” Analects 15,23
Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful” Urdana-Varga 5,18
Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you” Mahabharata 5,1517
Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowman. That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary.” Talmud, Shabbat 31a
Zoroastrianism: “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.” Dadistan-i-dinik 94,5
Visit the website at www.charterforcompassion.org. There you will be invited to Learn, Share and Act for compassion.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Life, Language, and Communication
As missioners, language is a keystone to understanding the people we live among and work with in our assigned mission areas. The culture and world views of a people can often be interpreted or enhanced through the linguistic forms they use. So, logically, as a missioner prepares for a new assignment, language study is usually a top priority. When the Peacebuilding Team was assigned to Kenya in 2006, we made the decision to begin our ministry first, and study Kiswahili as time and funds permitted, to give us an opportunity to weigh the needs of the people and which language was going to be most useful to us in East Africa. One of our reasons was the unique nature of our program, to work across a larger geographical area which would not necessarily share a common language. We opted to begin our work using English, and for the most part that has served us in our work in Kenya. Other than English, the language most commonly shared in East Africa is Kiswahili, yet its usage is varied in many regions, leading to the adage, “Kiswahili was born in Tanzania, grew up in Kenya, and died in Uganda,” Having Sia, a native speaker from Tanzania, on our team highlights the differences of its use in other countries as we encounter the people. Giang and I began studying Kiswahili sporadically after we arrived in Kenya with a private tutor. The major challenge of learning Kiswahili here in Nairobi is that so many Kenyans preferred to speak English with us because we are foreigners, or they are more fluent in English or their own tribal language than in Kiswahili. For that reason, Giang recently spent a month in Tanzania to purposely study and practice Kiswahili, and returned to us with a good grasp of the language.
Meanwhile I reflected further on my thoughts on language and shared experience. In my lifetime I have studied four languages other than my mother tongue, English. I studied Arabic as an academic course in college, and recognized then that my proficiency in the course was due to my sensitive ear. Later, as a volunteer in a Brooklyn inner-city parish, I studied Spanish. As I lived and worked in a predominantly Spanish speaking neighborhood, I became quite fluent in understanding the people as they spoke, but less able to respond in my own words in their language. I sat in an interview with a colleague in the parish and a mother seeking First Communion for her child. The woman expressed her plea, speaking Spanish and exuding the emotions behind her request. My colleague repeatedly told her that she had missed the deadline and First Communion would not be possible for her child. I sat listening intently to the woman and listening with my heart. She exclaimed to my colleague, “She understands me, why can’t you?!” My colleague retorted, “She doesn’t speak Spanish, how can she understand you?” It is true, I probably would have overlooked the administrations and allowed her child to receive First Communion, because we connected on a different level of understanding.
During my first mission assignment with Maryknoll, I lived in East Timor. The language I chose to study there was Tetum. At the time, it was spoken by about 80% of the Timorese people, had about 30,000 words to the vocabulary, and was forbidden in school and business by the Indonesian government that was in place when I arrived. Timor won their independence shortly after I arrived, and language became a challenge among many in rebuilding their country. Most of the educated adults spoke Indonesian, most of the farmers and villagers spoke Tetum or yet another mother tongue, the freedom fighters and resistance leaders now leading the country spoke Portuguese, and the United Nations personnel in East Timor used English. At any coordinating meeting in the village for development, five languages could be used, in order to include everyone’s voice in the discussion. I found that as I learned to speak and understand Tetum, I was welcomed more warmly by the Timorese people, who were surrounded by foreign aid workers and UN people who had no intention of learning their language. It was the teachers in the high school where I was assigned as director that taught me the finer nuances of their language and helped me speak fluently, because they needed me to understand them and their interactions among them, so that I could be an effective leader for them. It was the deeper connection of the people wanting me to understand them and my wanting to be welcomed that enhanced my understanding of their language. Even today, on the other side of the world, sometimes I still think in Tetum.
So I wasn’t surprised a few weeks ago when I attended a forum of women on Transitional Justice, and had a deep understanding of what was being shared, whether the women used English or Kiswahili. Kenya was rocked by post election violence in January 2008, which was symptomatic of a cycle of violence and injustice that has affected this country since before their independence in1963. With the National Accord signed in February, 2008, healing, reconciliation, and reformation has become the agenda, being slowly implemented by the government and civil society. The women at this forum were there to share what they had experienced during the violence and what they now felt needed to be done to prevent the violence from happening again. I am far from being able to understand much Kiswahili as it is spoken, but that day I understood as the woman told in Kiswahili of her experience of being dragged off the street and burned by an angry mob, although she herself did not claim any political affiliation. At a deeper level, I also understood she had found healing. From her heart, I heard the voice of a survivor, and one who wants to reach out to others to create unity instead of division.
I have shared life with the people here in Kenya, and we have shared experience. This leads to a deeper level of understanding beyond words, beyond language. Language is important and will enhance this deeper connection. But today, I am not sure there is an ordered priority of learning language or experiencing life together that leads us to connect with other people. I think both are valuable so I will pursue my own purposeful time of study and practice of Kiswahili, but I don’t feel that I have lost anything without it in the years I have lived here in Kenya so far.
Meanwhile I reflected further on my thoughts on language and shared experience. In my lifetime I have studied four languages other than my mother tongue, English. I studied Arabic as an academic course in college, and recognized then that my proficiency in the course was due to my sensitive ear. Later, as a volunteer in a Brooklyn inner-city parish, I studied Spanish. As I lived and worked in a predominantly Spanish speaking neighborhood, I became quite fluent in understanding the people as they spoke, but less able to respond in my own words in their language. I sat in an interview with a colleague in the parish and a mother seeking First Communion for her child. The woman expressed her plea, speaking Spanish and exuding the emotions behind her request. My colleague repeatedly told her that she had missed the deadline and First Communion would not be possible for her child. I sat listening intently to the woman and listening with my heart. She exclaimed to my colleague, “She understands me, why can’t you?!” My colleague retorted, “She doesn’t speak Spanish, how can she understand you?” It is true, I probably would have overlooked the administrations and allowed her child to receive First Communion, because we connected on a different level of understanding.
During my first mission assignment with Maryknoll, I lived in East Timor. The language I chose to study there was Tetum. At the time, it was spoken by about 80% of the Timorese people, had about 30,000 words to the vocabulary, and was forbidden in school and business by the Indonesian government that was in place when I arrived. Timor won their independence shortly after I arrived, and language became a challenge among many in rebuilding their country. Most of the educated adults spoke Indonesian, most of the farmers and villagers spoke Tetum or yet another mother tongue, the freedom fighters and resistance leaders now leading the country spoke Portuguese, and the United Nations personnel in East Timor used English. At any coordinating meeting in the village for development, five languages could be used, in order to include everyone’s voice in the discussion. I found that as I learned to speak and understand Tetum, I was welcomed more warmly by the Timorese people, who were surrounded by foreign aid workers and UN people who had no intention of learning their language. It was the teachers in the high school where I was assigned as director that taught me the finer nuances of their language and helped me speak fluently, because they needed me to understand them and their interactions among them, so that I could be an effective leader for them. It was the deeper connection of the people wanting me to understand them and my wanting to be welcomed that enhanced my understanding of their language. Even today, on the other side of the world, sometimes I still think in Tetum.
So I wasn’t surprised a few weeks ago when I attended a forum of women on Transitional Justice, and had a deep understanding of what was being shared, whether the women used English or Kiswahili. Kenya was rocked by post election violence in January 2008, which was symptomatic of a cycle of violence and injustice that has affected this country since before their independence in1963. With the National Accord signed in February, 2008, healing, reconciliation, and reformation has become the agenda, being slowly implemented by the government and civil society. The women at this forum were there to share what they had experienced during the violence and what they now felt needed to be done to prevent the violence from happening again. I am far from being able to understand much Kiswahili as it is spoken, but that day I understood as the woman told in Kiswahili of her experience of being dragged off the street and burned by an angry mob, although she herself did not claim any political affiliation. At a deeper level, I also understood she had found healing. From her heart, I heard the voice of a survivor, and one who wants to reach out to others to create unity instead of division.
I have shared life with the people here in Kenya, and we have shared experience. This leads to a deeper level of understanding beyond words, beyond language. Language is important and will enhance this deeper connection. But today, I am not sure there is an ordered priority of learning language or experiencing life together that leads us to connect with other people. I think both are valuable so I will pursue my own purposeful time of study and practice of Kiswahili, but I don’t feel that I have lost anything without it in the years I have lived here in Kenya so far.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
PEACE IS POSSIBLE IF WE ALL CULTIVATE IT
The people of Kenya suffered greatly in 2008, following the post election violence that broke out in late December 2007 and January 2008. Many communities were broken apart and are still in need of deep healing. Yet, there were also communities that held together and much can be learned from their response to the situation. Last April Giang and I (Sia) met with one such community in Kitale. We had worked with this group in November 2007 on strategies for peacebuilding after which they made plans of action on how they would implement their learnings in their communities.
So when violence broke out in many parts of the country, the leaders in this community called for meetings and talked to people about the importance of keeping peace. They used what they had learned in our workshop, their faith, as well as their natural skills of living together in harmony.
We visited St. Michael Small Christian Community and joined them in prayers. I was amazed as well as enriched with the way they shared the word of God. The scripture passage was from the gospel passage according to John 15:9-11, Jesus’ commandment to us to love one another, as he has loved us. The sharing on this gospel passage was very alive and connected to their daily life. They shared the joy of keeping God’s command to love one another regardless of one’s status in the community. One person said “Why burn someone else’s house when you know this person needs a place to live like you” There is a need to recognize that we all deserve to live together despite our differences. Many of them shared their reflections on the love of each other.
The catechist then invited the Christians to share with us how they were affected by the post-election violence. Some of them shared that even though there was no direct violence in their community, they were affected so much by the violence which was going on in other parts of the country. The freedom of moving from one place to another was restricted because it was not safe to travel. There was a fuel shortage because the lorries could not travel from Mombasa to Kitale due to insecurity on the roads. The price of many things went up in their local shops because there were no supplies coming in. Even the most reliable way of communication which was through cell phones became a problem because the phone cards became less available. They were unable to communicate with their relatives and friends who were in areas affected by the violence. Not being able to communicate frustrated some of them and they felt helpless in terms of how to reach their relatives and rescue them.
Others shared with us how they kept peace in their community. One way was through their faith, they prayed for peace and unity all the time. They also held meetings and talked about their value of respecting each other and their property. They reminded each other that differing in their political affiliations does not make them fight. They recognized that although they support a PNU (Party of the National Unity) or ODM (Orange Democratic Movement), they are still human, they are still Christians and they need each other in their community. They passed this message around “let us be united and not fight each other.”
The chiefs, elders and church leaders as well as the entire community cooperated to ensure peace was kept in their communities. They all held meetings in their respective places and preached peace and strategize how to continue living peacefully with one another. In the church, the catechists learned from the people what was happening in their places, asking questions like “are they all okay with their neighbors?” They went house to house to preach peace and they invited the youth in the parish to do this work also. This strategy worked well because the youth were occupied and responsible in worthy efforts. They were not idle, left to be used by others to instigate violence.
In this community, the assistant chief is one of the youth. He warned his fellow youth not to be involved in any violence even if someone gave them money. The chiefs introduced curfew in their community; nobody was allowed to be out in the streets from 7pm to 7am. No youth were allowed to leave their houses to spend the night in the nearby guest house. Severe punishment would be given to anyone found on the streets after 7pm. When the parents heard of the curfew and the consequences of not following it, they were very concern for their sons. They cooperated with the chiefs and the elders to ensure that their sons were home before 7pm. The youth listened to the chief attentively and believed them because the assistant chief was one of the youth. They said it was easy to listen to one of them and believe what he was saying.
Most of the people in this community are farmers and they were busy preparing their field for planting. People were not idle in the streets waiting to be used by some people who had money to instigate violence.
All these factors helped to keep peace in their community. They all commented on good leadership as well as cooperation of each community member to live in a peaceful community. They also kept solidarity in prayer with other communities in Kenya which were experiencing the violence.
I was so inspired and energized by listening to these Christians from St. Michael Community, sharing their strategies for keeping peace in their area. This reminded me of the four principles of peace building by Louise Diamond: Community, Witness, Cooperation and Nonviolence. Listening to their stories, I could clearly see how they applied all these four principles naturally to keeping peace in their community. I wish their lessons could be shared with the people of other parts of Kenya so that peace might prevail in all of Kenya.
So when violence broke out in many parts of the country, the leaders in this community called for meetings and talked to people about the importance of keeping peace. They used what they had learned in our workshop, their faith, as well as their natural skills of living together in harmony.
We visited St. Michael Small Christian Community and joined them in prayers. I was amazed as well as enriched with the way they shared the word of God. The scripture passage was from the gospel passage according to John 15:9-11, Jesus’ commandment to us to love one another, as he has loved us. The sharing on this gospel passage was very alive and connected to their daily life. They shared the joy of keeping God’s command to love one another regardless of one’s status in the community. One person said “Why burn someone else’s house when you know this person needs a place to live like you” There is a need to recognize that we all deserve to live together despite our differences. Many of them shared their reflections on the love of each other.
The catechist then invited the Christians to share with us how they were affected by the post-election violence. Some of them shared that even though there was no direct violence in their community, they were affected so much by the violence which was going on in other parts of the country. The freedom of moving from one place to another was restricted because it was not safe to travel. There was a fuel shortage because the lorries could not travel from Mombasa to Kitale due to insecurity on the roads. The price of many things went up in their local shops because there were no supplies coming in. Even the most reliable way of communication which was through cell phones became a problem because the phone cards became less available. They were unable to communicate with their relatives and friends who were in areas affected by the violence. Not being able to communicate frustrated some of them and they felt helpless in terms of how to reach their relatives and rescue them.
Others shared with us how they kept peace in their community. One way was through their faith, they prayed for peace and unity all the time. They also held meetings and talked about their value of respecting each other and their property. They reminded each other that differing in their political affiliations does not make them fight. They recognized that although they support a PNU (Party of the National Unity) or ODM (Orange Democratic Movement), they are still human, they are still Christians and they need each other in their community. They passed this message around “let us be united and not fight each other.”
The chiefs, elders and church leaders as well as the entire community cooperated to ensure peace was kept in their communities. They all held meetings in their respective places and preached peace and strategize how to continue living peacefully with one another. In the church, the catechists learned from the people what was happening in their places, asking questions like “are they all okay with their neighbors?” They went house to house to preach peace and they invited the youth in the parish to do this work also. This strategy worked well because the youth were occupied and responsible in worthy efforts. They were not idle, left to be used by others to instigate violence.
In this community, the assistant chief is one of the youth. He warned his fellow youth not to be involved in any violence even if someone gave them money. The chiefs introduced curfew in their community; nobody was allowed to be out in the streets from 7pm to 7am. No youth were allowed to leave their houses to spend the night in the nearby guest house. Severe punishment would be given to anyone found on the streets after 7pm. When the parents heard of the curfew and the consequences of not following it, they were very concern for their sons. They cooperated with the chiefs and the elders to ensure that their sons were home before 7pm. The youth listened to the chief attentively and believed them because the assistant chief was one of the youth. They said it was easy to listen to one of them and believe what he was saying.
Most of the people in this community are farmers and they were busy preparing their field for planting. People were not idle in the streets waiting to be used by some people who had money to instigate violence.
All these factors helped to keep peace in their community. They all commented on good leadership as well as cooperation of each community member to live in a peaceful community. They also kept solidarity in prayer with other communities in Kenya which were experiencing the violence.
I was so inspired and energized by listening to these Christians from St. Michael Community, sharing their strategies for keeping peace in their area. This reminded me of the four principles of peace building by Louise Diamond: Community, Witness, Cooperation and Nonviolence. Listening to their stories, I could clearly see how they applied all these four principles naturally to keeping peace in their community. I wish their lessons could be shared with the people of other parts of Kenya so that peace might prevail in all of Kenya.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Keeping the Conversation Going
In late January, we met with some people who had participated in our Conversations for Social Change program last year. This group has chosen to continue meeting as a group every two months, to support one another and share what they have done and seen in their communities.
It has been a year since the post election violence ripped the heart of this country. There is calm but the wounds are still open and as one person shared there has been “pain on pain on pain.” The Grand Coalition government has been tested over and again, scandals have erupted and been squashed, and many promises made to the people of Kenya are still unmet. Rising food prices and food shortages have many Kenyans going hungry. If the wounds, the pain, and the hunger are not addressed, the situation is a time bomb waiting to go off.
Reconciliation has been talked about, called for, and brushed aside. Healing comes slowly without a sense of forgiveness. Who is willing to step up and say “I am sorry.” Surely not the politicians. Our church leaders? Our friends are asking themselves, “Can we step into the gap to apologize” to those who are still struggling, those who are still displaced, those who are still living with the emotional pain. The apology will not feed someone, or provide building material, but it stretches across a gap that may re-humanize a person, help them find the inner strength to move forward. This country needs justice, but as we all wait for that to happen, how can we help each other move forward?
Many new ideas and projects have sprung up from this group. Three of the men have met to consider working with matatu drivers and their conductors. Matatus are privately operated mini vans used as public transportation. They can be a necessary evil to many of the working class in Kenya who rely on them to get to and from work. Matatus are the cheapest form of public transportation and they are the only public transportation available to many areas in and around Nairobi. But they are subject to control by gangs that force drivers to pay them for attracting customers, for clearing the road, or for protection. The passengers are also at risk of being robbed or injured by gang members posing as fellow passengers.
James, Tom, and Efraim have started talking with some of the drivers and conductors to reach out to their peers and gather them for conversations. If they can come together and share their challenges and ideas to improve the situation, they may be very influential in shifting the social environment. Their own behavior, language and interactions with their passengers help shape the mood and character of society. We have heard that they are interested and want to participate in Conversations for Social Change. We need now only to look for the financial means to support the program.
We are so encouraged by these friends of ours that we are now making Conversations for Social Change our primary program. We have started four new groups this year, and are looking to fund programs for the Matatu drivers and possibly a program with church leaders.
Your prayers and support always encourage us in this work. Please stay in touch and send suggestions or ideas about what you have read.
It has been a year since the post election violence ripped the heart of this country. There is calm but the wounds are still open and as one person shared there has been “pain on pain on pain.” The Grand Coalition government has been tested over and again, scandals have erupted and been squashed, and many promises made to the people of Kenya are still unmet. Rising food prices and food shortages have many Kenyans going hungry. If the wounds, the pain, and the hunger are not addressed, the situation is a time bomb waiting to go off.
Reconciliation has been talked about, called for, and brushed aside. Healing comes slowly without a sense of forgiveness. Who is willing to step up and say “I am sorry.” Surely not the politicians. Our church leaders? Our friends are asking themselves, “Can we step into the gap to apologize” to those who are still struggling, those who are still displaced, those who are still living with the emotional pain. The apology will not feed someone, or provide building material, but it stretches across a gap that may re-humanize a person, help them find the inner strength to move forward. This country needs justice, but as we all wait for that to happen, how can we help each other move forward?
Many new ideas and projects have sprung up from this group. Three of the men have met to consider working with matatu drivers and their conductors. Matatus are privately operated mini vans used as public transportation. They can be a necessary evil to many of the working class in Kenya who rely on them to get to and from work. Matatus are the cheapest form of public transportation and they are the only public transportation available to many areas in and around Nairobi. But they are subject to control by gangs that force drivers to pay them for attracting customers, for clearing the road, or for protection. The passengers are also at risk of being robbed or injured by gang members posing as fellow passengers.
James, Tom, and Efraim have started talking with some of the drivers and conductors to reach out to their peers and gather them for conversations. If they can come together and share their challenges and ideas to improve the situation, they may be very influential in shifting the social environment. Their own behavior, language and interactions with their passengers help shape the mood and character of society. We have heard that they are interested and want to participate in Conversations for Social Change. We need now only to look for the financial means to support the program.
We are so encouraged by these friends of ours that we are now making Conversations for Social Change our primary program. We have started four new groups this year, and are looking to fund programs for the Matatu drivers and possibly a program with church leaders.
Your prayers and support always encourage us in this work. Please stay in touch and send suggestions or ideas about what you have read.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
WE ARE BACK!
We have been away from our blog for too long! We are back and hope to stay connected much more often. This posting tells you what we have been up to and you can see we were pretty busy last year.
The past year has shaped the direction for us in Kenya. As you might know, the year 2008 began in violence and things were tense for almost two months. The violence was in response to the disputed election results that took place on December 27, 2007. I and my sisters, Giang and Sia, were never in any direct danger, as foreigners, because the fighting was between Kenyan factions. We stayed safely out of the way, especially because Sia had a reasonable fear of being mistaken for a member of one of the ethnic groups before people might realize she is Tanzanian. But the situation calmed down with international help by the end of February. Because many people were left traumatized and unsettled by the violence, we were left with lots of work to do.
This year we have done eight workshops, either 2, 3, or 4 days long, on the topics of Conflict Transformation, Trauma Awareness and Healing, Intercultural Living Skills, and Peacebuilding. The participants have been from all walks of life and from many different ethnic groups. We particularly liked working with novices and postulants from four religious congregations in Kisumu, a city in the western part of Kenya. The most challenging group, however, were the community leaders we gathered from five slum areas around Nairobi. These were the communities most affected by the violence in January. We chose 30 people from 7 different ethnic groups, from these five neighborhoods. They hadn’t met each other, but in the course of three workshops, they learned to work together and value each others’ contributions. We look forward to working with them in their communities in the coming year.
Our most exciting project was called Conversations for Social Change. We had planned this project over a year ago, and were scheduled to begin it in January 2008. Believing in the words of Margaret Mead, that “a small group of thoughtful people could change the world,” we gathered 21 people into 3 small groups for conversations about social change. We also believe that social change begins with personal transformation, so the participants were invited to focus on their own feelings, actions, and reflections. Each group had six, seven, or eight participants, with at least four different ethnic groups represented in each group. Again, the post election violence had made the atmosphere very tense, but we began this project in January anyway. The participants not only found it an enriching program, but they said it was a healing process for them as well. We are planning to do another series of conversations this year, inviting old participants to facilitate for new participants.
For most of this year we were a community of four instead of three. Anastasia Lee joined us in April after studying Kiswahili in Tanzania for four months. She was a welcome addition and contributed many good insights and lots or creativity to our team. After some unfortunate incidents on the streets of Nairobi, and personal discernment, Anastasia decided this was not the best mission for her, so she is returning to our center in New York, to continue her mission discernment.
Sia, Giang, and I joined 165 of our Maryknoll sisters in New York this past October for our Congregational General Assembly. This meeting takes place every six years, to set directions for the future and elect our leadership team. On the Feast of Epiphany, January 4th, the new leadership team will be inaugurated, just sixteen days before Barack Obama. The outgoing leadership team has been so supportive of our new project, they will be missed, but we are looking forward to working with the new team as well.
Our Conversations for Social Change II is about to begin this month. We will have four groups facilitated by one Maryknoll Sister and one participant from the first series. We are also looking forward to working with Anup Karia, a process worker from England (originally from Kenya), to create more opportunities for conversations and facilitation trainings.
The past year has shaped the direction for us in Kenya. As you might know, the year 2008 began in violence and things were tense for almost two months. The violence was in response to the disputed election results that took place on December 27, 2007. I and my sisters, Giang and Sia, were never in any direct danger, as foreigners, because the fighting was between Kenyan factions. We stayed safely out of the way, especially because Sia had a reasonable fear of being mistaken for a member of one of the ethnic groups before people might realize she is Tanzanian. But the situation calmed down with international help by the end of February. Because many people were left traumatized and unsettled by the violence, we were left with lots of work to do.
This year we have done eight workshops, either 2, 3, or 4 days long, on the topics of Conflict Transformation, Trauma Awareness and Healing, Intercultural Living Skills, and Peacebuilding. The participants have been from all walks of life and from many different ethnic groups. We particularly liked working with novices and postulants from four religious congregations in Kisumu, a city in the western part of Kenya. The most challenging group, however, were the community leaders we gathered from five slum areas around Nairobi. These were the communities most affected by the violence in January. We chose 30 people from 7 different ethnic groups, from these five neighborhoods. They hadn’t met each other, but in the course of three workshops, they learned to work together and value each others’ contributions. We look forward to working with them in their communities in the coming year.
Our most exciting project was called Conversations for Social Change. We had planned this project over a year ago, and were scheduled to begin it in January 2008. Believing in the words of Margaret Mead, that “a small group of thoughtful people could change the world,” we gathered 21 people into 3 small groups for conversations about social change. We also believe that social change begins with personal transformation, so the participants were invited to focus on their own feelings, actions, and reflections. Each group had six, seven, or eight participants, with at least four different ethnic groups represented in each group. Again, the post election violence had made the atmosphere very tense, but we began this project in January anyway. The participants not only found it an enriching program, but they said it was a healing process for them as well. We are planning to do another series of conversations this year, inviting old participants to facilitate for new participants.
For most of this year we were a community of four instead of three. Anastasia Lee joined us in April after studying Kiswahili in Tanzania for four months. She was a welcome addition and contributed many good insights and lots or creativity to our team. After some unfortunate incidents on the streets of Nairobi, and personal discernment, Anastasia decided this was not the best mission for her, so she is returning to our center in New York, to continue her mission discernment.
Sia, Giang, and I joined 165 of our Maryknoll sisters in New York this past October for our Congregational General Assembly. This meeting takes place every six years, to set directions for the future and elect our leadership team. On the Feast of Epiphany, January 4th, the new leadership team will be inaugurated, just sixteen days before Barack Obama. The outgoing leadership team has been so supportive of our new project, they will be missed, but we are looking forward to working with the new team as well.
Our Conversations for Social Change II is about to begin this month. We will have four groups facilitated by one Maryknoll Sister and one participant from the first series. We are also looking forward to working with Anup Karia, a process worker from England (originally from Kenya), to create more opportunities for conversations and facilitation trainings.
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