Funda,
I can't answer your question directly because I don't know. They certainly
promote peace. Beyond that, the best I can do is send Mike Seymour's trip
report from his visit to Burundi. (below)
I'm glad you found the ideas of value.
from cold, rainy Seattle,
Peggy
August 28, 2004
Mike Seymour's Report on Trip to Bujumbura, Burundi August 12-24, 2004
Greetings:
I'm just back from a life-changing journey to Burundi, Central Africa, where
I spent the last two weeks working with Prosper Ndabishuriye (who many of
you met at the Practice of Peace Open Space Conference here on Whidbey
Island last November). His organization (Youth in Reconstruction of a World
in Destruction) is involved in peace-building through building homes for
refugees, peace conferences and leadership development. As this note is
fairly long, read it when you have some leisure time if you are busy now.
In a few days I'll send you a link to pictures from the trip.
First Impressions
Having been in other high-poverty places-like India and Korea 40 years ago-I
was less shocked than I might have been at seeing dilapidated buildings that
haven't seen paint since the Colonial era, endless roads with potholes or no
surface except rocks, streams of people walking along the sides of the road
(or a jitney bikes)-there being few cars outside of the capital city of
Bujumbura. Homes are modest mud brick dwellings, perhaps 400-600 square
feet in size, for the most part. The usual litter of paper and plastic can
be seen most everywhere, and in some areas (like the Buiza district in
Bujumbura City) is really bad-- poor air quality because everyone cooks with
wood or coal. The first thing I notice is I'm automatically taking shorter
breaths-as if that could keep the particulates out of my lungs. But the air
quality improves the next day as the weather is drier. In fact, I arrive on
the only rainy day they've had in months that summer-a fact not unnoticed by
Prosper who says there is a Burundian tradition that the one who comes with
the rain brings blessing. (The good omen proved true, for me as much as
anyone). Quickly, I got used to the "poverty." There was something that
seemed normal to me about it which I can't quite explain now that I'm back
here on Whidbey amidst relative wealth. Burundi, mind you, is the third
poorest country in the world out of 177 countries listed in the UN-and the
per capita income is something like $100 per year. I tried to imagine if I
listed all these 177 countries on a text document, on what page would
Burundi appear-somewhere at the end of page four, I think. This kind of math
is hard to fathom-and what's amazing is to see so many people not only
alive, but also thriving and smiling. One wonders how much of a mythology
we've built up in the west about what is a minimal, necessary life style!!!
The military is everywhere. In developed countries, we're not used to
seeing so many soldiers in uniform-many with automatic weapons-signs of
continued insecurity due to the years of Hutu-Tutsi ethnic conflict which
has claimed over 600,000 lives and countless displaced families. As if to
ensure we didn't forget the kind of environment our peace efforts are
working in, several days after I arrived the rebel Hutu faction (some 25,000
strong which are all around the capital city region) attacked a camp of
Congolese Tutsi refugees in Gatumba near the Congo border that was being
guarded by Burundian government soldiers. Over 160 refugees, including
soldiers, were killed. (If you want more on this go to:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0408/S00151.htm.) The day I left, a
large Thai airliner came in with a contingent of fresh, Thai UN troops-- and
there is lots of concern for the possibility of an escalation of tensions
and mutual reprisals on both sides.
The Work-the inner part
The work is always both inner and outer-interlocking universes turning in
tandem with one another, so I cannot understand the outer journey apart from
the inner one, both for myself, Prosper and the many people who shared in
this by either being in Burundi at the time or by being there virtually in
prayer and spirit-as many of you were-and we thank you for your presence.
Very simply, for me another window in my personal journey opened quite
suddenly and wonderfully as I realized by day 2 or 3 that indeed my heart
had been mysteriously knit to the Burundian people and that I was being
called to step outside the box, beyond personal comfort zone and exercise
greater faith and play on a bigger field of work than I had thought of. I've
said so many times that my life is something that happened on the way to
someplace else. In the case of Burundi, I NEVER in my wildest imagination
could have cooked up being involved in Africa, going to what the State
Department calls a high-risk area and being involved with a Christian
evangelical organization (Prosper is an Evangelist)-having evolved from my
early Christian "born again" experience to a more contemplative form of
Christianity and then, quite naturally, onto to becoming a Buddhist in the
Vipassana tradition. But of course, I felt totally at home with all of
this-not the least of which was the spirit-rousing church service Prosper
brought me to that first Sunday at which I was asked to share my testimony
of how I came to Christ. So, there I was passionately telling this story
from 26 years ago-and Prosper keeps telling me throughout my stay that
people come up to him and say they think I must be an evangelist. And here I
had my heart set on becoming more monk-like and spending time in a monastery
in Burma. Go figure!!
Throughout, this journey has been marked by these improbable turning points
at which I said "Yes" when the natural thing to do-what a big part of me
wanted to do-was to say "No." Perhaps this is how God works-we are led down
of path not completely of our own conscious choosing, only to see, once we've
gotten there, how perfect it is for us to be there. This started with the
Practice of peace Conference where it was the Bayview school students who
wanted to go to Africa (having met Prosper) and then they asked me if I
would go-and I couldn't easily say "No" as I had donated the money for them
to attend. Then the kids dropped out since Burundi is rated unsafe by the
State Dept., so I had to decide "Will I go," and again I said yes, after
asking Heather Ogilvy if she would go also. Then Prosper asks if I will be
a conduit for funds people want to donate-easy enough to do, only then
shortly after he sends me a letter saying he has appointed me the US
representative for JRMD. At this I really balked, as I am way too busy and
this entails, if I take it seriously, fund-raising I don't want to or feel
qualified to do. But after sitting on his e-mail for two days, I think of
the situation there and say to myself "I can't not do this." But all the
time I feel this pressure from the desperate situation in Burundi, and have
this sinking feeling (which I confirm once in Burundi) that there is in fact
nobody else but me which has volunteered to raise money for this
organization which is slated to build 800 homes for refugees. This is a bit
like being in a dream in which you're moving but not under your own
power-something else much bigger is drawing you along. This can feel a bit
scary, until I realized that I not only am I not in control, but don't have
to be-that there are forces (history, justice, God, people's prayers, the
vacuum of need which is Central Africa) which are shaping events way beyond
my ability or need to see the whole picture-only to play whatever small part
is mine to play--and be happy about that.
The Outer Work-Opening a Space for Peace
As I allowed myself more and more to be "given" to this work, it became
clear that Prosper and JRMD/YRWD (Youth in Reconstruction of a World in
Destruction) with myself and The Heritage Institute were forming a
partnership, and that my contribution of ideas, values, energy and presence
are in the long run as important as the funds we are able to bring in. The
great enthusiasm that my presence generated everywhere we went convinced my
once and for all it was right for me to have spent the $1,800 on airfare-a
sum I worried about as I felt it might be better to simply donate that
amount. You see, since the ethnic conflicts erupted in 1993, foreigners
simply don't make many visits to Burundi, except in some kind of official
capacity like the UN (which has a big presence and a 5000 man peace-keeping
force) or the foreign embassy people. Otherwise, the outside world is
absent, and there can be this sense of hopelessness, of nobody in the larger
world noticing or caring much. So, it is a REALLY BIG DEAL when a
foreigner, especially a person with white skin from America, comes to
Burundi. And this is magnified by the fact that people in Burundi realize
their government is a bit of a joke, strapped for cash and not able to
really help them; and the same goes for many foreign NGO's whose overhead
soaks up most of the budget so that precious little effects anything on the
ground.
So, knowing all this, and driving around seeing soldiers in uniform
everywhere--many of whom wouldn't know if you asked what there mission is-I
realized the tremendous potential of an organization like Youth in
Reconstruction which--being a low-overhead, local, grass-roots organization
which counts on many committed volunteers-can get so much done. Case in
point: Habitat for Humanity came and left Burundi because of the political
situation-they managed to build only 30 homes and a much higher cost than
JRMD. JRMD has already built 1,500 since 1993. In the Carama district we
visited the next project where 800 homes will be built using the JRMD team
of volunteers and with help from many donors. We'll do this for half the
cost of a NW mini-mansion. A budget Prosper recently developed indicates
that these homes will only need an additional $315/home to be built, since
an agreement with a local government agency for refugee resettlement is
picking up the roofing costs which comes out to over 36% of the home cost.
The JRMD/THI partnership involves an integrated effort for peace-building,
including home building for refugees; promoting awareness of Burundi and the
Central African situation through citizen diplomacy and public speaking;
peace-building through conferences and youth leadership development and
educational initiatives linking American and Burundian schools. Please
refer to the Appendix where the partnership agreement is spelled out in
detail. Here I'll relate what portions of it we actually did while I was in
Burundi.
Carama District-Kinama Zone
Helping 800 Refugee Families to Rebuild their Homes
Prosper and I visited the Carama district at least 3-4 times during my two
week stay. Here, all the houses were completely destroyed in the fighting
over the past years-especially in 2000, and virtually nobody lives here at
this time. However, under the guidance and with hope from JRMD and their
field team of 21 volunteers, families who used to live in this area are
slowly being encouraged to return and rebuild their homes with JRMD help.
Orphans, widows and others with limited ability are encouraged to join
together and work as a community to help build homes. Rivulets bringing
water on site from a nearby water system enable earth to be softened to a
muddy texture, and packed into wooden forms then dried into bricks about 18
inches in length by 8 inches on either side. The JRMD team uses string lines
and levels to get the bricks into even rows high enough for door and window
lintels, then another few layers of brick are put on before the roofing is
done-consisting of beams (local trees) and metals sheeting nailed in place.
This is sustainable development in action. The families themselves do the
work and all materials are local-even the trees for the beams could be
replanted-a project we are interested in. Homes here go up for between $600
total. But, due to The Burundian government Commission on Refugee
Rehabiliatation donation of metal roofing, costs for the 800 homes for JRMD
will only be about $252,000, or about $315/home. Imagine being able to house
almost 5,000 people for less than the cost of an average Puget Sound
house!!!
I met many old men, old women and children working side by side. They were
tired...many hadn't eaten for a day or more, since they were not earning
money when they worked on their own homes. But I could clearly see the
happiness and glow in their faces. I have never failed to notice and be
stirred by the presence of spiritual wealth in the face of material poverty;
and then, coming back to the states as I have many times from overseas,
seeing spiritual poverty amidst material wealth. This spirit/matter
relationship is the subject of religious discourse. One man joked with
Prosper that he hadn't gone to the bathroom for two days, because he hadn't
eaten in that time. We all laughed. The following week, as the funds
Prosper and I were living from also dwindled, and we were taking less food,
I had a chance to say that I too had not gone to the bathroom in a while
since I had taken in so little food. In fact, I found myself wanting less
food...it just seemed natural to me to be in harmony with what the average
person experiences here.
Shortly after I arrived, Prosper ordered enough wooden beams for about 50
houses, and this caused a big stir. We can now envision as many as 240+
homes being able to have a roof on before the rainy season next year, with
funds we expect to raise as Prosper comes to the Northwest this October.
Open Space Conference-Bujumbura
Prosper had mentioned wanting to hold an open space conference for youth
during my stay, but by the time I arrived we had only received only about
$250 toward the estimated $2,500 to put on a quality event-including food,
transportation funds (as many don't have even enough bus money), facility
rental, musicians, translators, photocopying etc. We were both in a buoyant
mood, sensing that the visit was going well and there was a lot of spirit
behind the work. So, I ventured an offer to put up $1000 for a more limited
event if no money came in. The next day Prosper told me that would not be
necessary as a person neither one of us knew had already e-mailed Prosper
the night before that she would donate $2,500 for the Open space event. We
want to express our gratitude to Ellie Kierson for her faith and generosity,
and knew beyond any doubt that higher powers were on our side in this
mission.
The Open Space took place over Friday and Saturday morning, and we had a
truly wonderful, spirit-filled event with 71 people attending. Most were
students or young working people, including many from the JRMD field team,
JRMD staff and other volunteers. It was really a blessing that we had 2-3
young people from the Congo and as many, also, from Kenya-several of whom
turned out to be very inspiring and promising leaders.
During this two days, a model for peace-building clearly emerged which we
could train young people to do. There was a vision put forth to approach
the churches in Burundi as a resource for this kind of peace-building model,
as 86% of the country is Christian-most of that Catholic, with most of the
rest being protestant, evangelical.
There is a great advantage to being able to work at a deep spiritual level
and based on a common language and values when most of the people in the
room believe in the same things. And so, when we laid a foundation of
teaching about peace based on Christian precepts, using both biblical as
well as indigenous metaphors, a powerful common sacred ground emerged for
this work which brought everyone together. All our meetings were begun and
ended in prayer, music and dancing which brought such great joy to everyone.
It became to clear to me if leaders of any opposing forces would only gather
together in song, prayer and eating of food, that killing one another
afterward would be so much harder to do. This became clear to everyone
present-how simple peace can be when the heart is in the right place.
On Saturday, many people continued to hang around for hours-relishing the
time together and not wanting to go home. We look forward to the next time.
AfricaAmericaExchange-Schools Project NW & Burundi
Ever since The Heritage Institute launched its distance education program in
1995, we have had a vision (expressed in our logo) of forming a global,
internet exchange connecting young people and their teachers from around the
world--each classroom working on projects of their own choosing that benefit
their communities. At last we are able to realize that vision with
AfricaAmericaExchange. Here six secondary schools from Bujumbura and six
schools from Washington state will all work on projects that will benefit
their own or the larger world community, and then they will communicate with
each other about their projects and progress using Yahoo Groups as a
discussion space, for posting files and pictures etc.
We met with a group of 25 or so students and teachers for an afternoon
workshop and orientation and then had training sessions at the Tropicana
CyberCafe, as only one of the schools there had computers with an internet
connection. The schools represented are: Ceste School, Saint Esprit-Ceebu,
Lycee Kinama, Lycee du Lac, Lycee Municipal Ruziba, Lycee Municipal Rohero.
The kids and teachers were all so excited to receive the internet training
as well as training in how to use the digital camera I brought which was
given to JRMD to be loaned out as each school needs. There were many
questions about how to choose a project which we answered as best we
could-saying basically that we did not have money to fund any project beyond
a small budget for internet fees and for student transportation to-and-from
the CyberCafe. Each school will survey its own community, doing an informal
needs assessment, and then determine where they can be effective. We gave
many examples of short-term projects (community-building workshops,
environmental clean-up, education about HIV/AIDS that bear no cost and can
do some good.
As of now, Langley Middle School (Susie Richards) and Eagle Harbor High
School in Bainbridge Island are on board in the NW. I will find four more
schools before Prosper comes in October, and then he and I will visit each
school for an orientation session.
The project begins formally on October 15 and lasts 5 months, through the
end of February, 2005. Already, the Burundian schools have signed up for
Yahoo e-mail accounts and have prepared a digital photo album for each
school. We are all excited about the possibilities that will emerge from
this first experiment which, if successful, can be offered to more schools.
Opening a Space for Peace
A partnership between
Jeunesse en Reconstruction du Monde en Destruction (JRMD)
Youth in Reconstruction of a World in Destruction (YRWD) in English and
The Heritage Institute (THI), USA
Prosper Ndabishuriye, General Coordinator of JRMD and Mike Seymour,
President of The Heritage Institute, USA (THI) are happy to announce the
formation of a partnership between their two organizations for the purposes
of opening a space for peace for the people of Burundi as well as those of
other Central African countries in the Great Lakes region who have suffered
through war and its tragic consequences.
This dynamic partnership will enable many intergrated levels of
peace-building to occur for the people of Burundi and the region. This will
include refugee resettlement through home- building; promoting awareness and
compassion among Americans and Europeans of the situation and needs in
Central Africa through international citizen diplomacy and cross-cultural
dialogue; educating for peace through Burundi/America school partnerships,
conferences and literature that offer hope in teaching about the skills and
attitudes for peace.
First, the JRMD/THI partnership will assist in the resettlement of refugees
displaced by over ten years of ethnic wars by helping them to build homes
for themselves. JRMD has successfully assisted in the building over 1,500
homes since 1993 through a sustainable, grass-roots development model that
uses inexpensive local materials and the willing involvement of future
homeowners who, working together, find support and a new sense of community.
The JRMD/THI partnership will enable another 800 homes to be built in the
Carama district of Kinama zone in the capital city of Bujumbura. Since June
2004, this latest initiative already has sufficient progress so that by
November, 2004 as many as 200+ homes will have walls and roof-enough for
families to begin moving in, even though the homes will not be fully
complete.
Second, this partnership will build awareness and compassion for the needs
of Burundians and others in the region among people in America and Europe.
With the help of The Heritage Institute in the USA and others in Holland,
JRMD/THI will be able to speak before many business associations, chambers
of commerce, schools, churches and at the homes of enthusiastic supporters.
Video and other presentations of the suffering in Burundi, and how the
JRMD/THI partnership brings hope and homes to deserving people is expected
to touch many hearts-building a strong donor foundation to support the
partnership work.
From this group of committed supporters will come a delegation of Americans
and Europeans who, in 2006 or 2007, will form a mission that comes to
Burundi to further advance the peace-building process. Under the name Global
Citizen Journey, as many as 25 people from the USA or Europe will journey to
Burundi to work along side equal numbers of Burundians to build homes, plant
trees and to also deepen their relationship through workshops and
conversations on peace-building themes.
As part of this 2-3 week mission, the JRMD/THI partnership will extend an
invitation to the governments of Burundi and other countries in the Great
Lakes region to participate in a Pan-African conference on peace.
Government leaders, NGO's, the UN and many volunteers working at the grass
roots level will be invited to attend, share their successes and failures,
coordinate policies and explore how partnerships may enhance individual
organization's mission.
Finally, and very important, the JRMD/THI partnership will promote the
development of leadership among youth in both in Africa as well as America
and Europe. This will be done through an educational initiative that
involves students and teachers in community improvement projects and
cross-cultural dialogue, using the Internet as the medium of communication.
Named the AfricaAmericaExchange, this initiative will begin for the first
time in Fall 2004 between four schools in Burundi and a comparable number in
the state of Washington in the USA. Each group of students and teachers will
discuss and decide on what kind of activity they will undertake under the
criteria that the project will "...make the world a better place." A sense
of global community will develop as students in the AfricaAmericaExchange
send emails to one another and post file and pictures of their work on a
specially selected Internet site. As stories are shared, cultural
understanding and friendships will grow.
The JRMD/THI partnership is founded on the belief that peace starts from
within-that we must be peaceful within ourselves as a condition to make
peace between ourselves and others. This is seen as a work of relationship,
reconciliation and mutual grieving together for past losses to free the
heart from its burdens-relating deeply to ourselves and who we are, to
others in the human community, to earth and to spirit. Only as we know and
relate to our own hearts can we truly know and relate to others. As we thus
build community with one another we can then in peace engage in a most
important reconciliation of people with Earth our home, working to preserve
the health and integrity of the natural world on which we are all vitally
dependent. Through this process of relationship to self, community and
Earth, we may discover a heart and spirit common to all humanity, and thus
grow in our ability to celebrate the rich diversity of cultural and
religious expression which is our great human inheritance.
Bujumbura, August 17, 2004
Mike Seymour
Prosper Ndabishuriye
Director of Heritage Institute, USA
General Coordinator
Jeunesse en Reconstruction
du Monde en Destruction
JRMD/YRWD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Funda Oral" <fundao...@ttnet.net.tr>
To: <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 7:31 AM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Opening a Space for Peace in Burundi & Central Africa
Dear Peggy,
I forwarded these two web sites to some friends to make them see how young
people can be active because we were currently discussing about some
similar
projects.
http://jrmd.org/.
www.hol.edu/aax
But they are asking if these organizations promote peace or do they aim to
promote christ?
or both? as we read following sentences on "jrmd" web page.
" We made Christ known through His Love in Action"
" The culture of Christ's Love in Action."
thanks,
Funda
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