Winter 08
Peace Workers Make Impact
You've heard of Darfur, perhaps... The region in western Sudan where tens of thousands of people are suffering and dying as victims of war and displacement. But have you heard of what seems to be happening adjacent to Darfur, in southern Sudan? Peace seems to be taking root, little by little, with some help from CJP folks. In January 2006 a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was reached, but "it's in a delicate stage," observes CJP's Practice Institute director Jan Jenner. "For peace to prevail, much more work of reconciliation, problemsolving and capacity-building must be done."
During this critical pre- and post-conflict period, a dozen people directly trained by or working for CJP have been active in the region. In the last six months, four EMU-based staffers - usually Jenner, lead trainer Elaine Zook Barge or professor David Anderson Hooker - have traveled between South Sudan and the United States to do peace work. It's a journey that takes three to four days each way, using a patchwork of transportation modes.
Other EMU-linked people live in the region and do conflict-reduction work. Lam Cosmas, MA '04, for example, has a long history of helping to free and re-integrate child soldiers. He also has organized civic groups to put pressure on regional leaders on all sides to meet and negotiate in good faith for peace. Doreen Ruto, MA '06 of Kenya, who was widowed by a terrorist attack that collapsed a building around her husband, has led groups through trauma-healing trainings, as have Kenyans Babu Ayindo, MA '98, John Katunga, MA '05, and Tecla Wanjala, MA '03.
Current MA student Robert Roche is living temporarily in Ikotos, South Sudan, working on a practicum required for his masters degree. For more information on earlier work in South Sudan, including that done by CJP professors David Anderson Hooker and Nancy Good Sider and MA '06 graduate Fred Yiga, go to www.emu.edu/peacebuilder for the Fall '06 issue of Peacebuilder.
