Engaging Traditional Leaders in Peacebuilding

Last week, I was able to travel up-country and take part in a training on the rule of law and alternative dispute resolution with traditional leaders – town chiefs, clan chiefs and paramount chiefs. The first thing I realized was that my image of traditional leaders was entirely outdated. I had basically expected to meet elderly, serious men in traditional clothes with a stick or such in their hand, and instead I met next to a few elderly men numerous women and young men. I had furthermore assumed that the chiefs had either inherited their position from their fathers or were appointed by former chiefs, and instead I learned that nowadays the chiefs are elected – “Of course! It’s a democratic society, why did you think that we would not elect them?” Lastly, these chiefs were clearly not the serious or even grim leaders I had expected – I haven’t often seen a group that enjoyed energizers as much as these chiefs did. Meeting the chiefs was thus a good lesson in rethinking stereotypes.

In a second step I learned about the complexity of the Liberian legal system. Liberia has a dual law system where customary law and statutory law exist in parallel. This gives the chiefs the power to make binding decisions in their communities on some issues but at the same time confronts them with various challenges: If a community member is already married under statutory law, can he marry an additional woman as is allowed under customary law? If a criminal case is brought to the chief, does the chief have to take it to the police? Do the chiefs belong to the executive or the judiciary and which rights and responsibilities do they thus have toward other state organs? With a significant level of illiteracy among the chiefs and limited civic education, these are challenging issues. For two days, Liberian lawyers explained the basics of the state structure, inheritance law, land rights and many more topics to the participants, equipping them with the knowledge that can help them fulfill their roles more effectively, in line with the law, and with the aim of resolving conflict in their communities.

The second part of the training consisted of a discussion on gender-based violence and several sessions on alternative dispute resolution methods. In a society where traditional beliefs and practices are a main source of SGBV, discussing SGBV with traditional leaders is obviously challenging. Yet, the facilitator managed to constructively engage the chiefs through looking at the issue from their perspective, rather than providing a lesson from outside that might alienate them. She explained SGBV with the image of the “conflict tree” (roots of the problem, fruits/consequences of the problem), making clear that while tradition (roots) is what gives stability to our communities and what we need to guide our behavior, it is at the same time also informing practices that are harmful to the community, such as SGBV. Rather than rejecting tradition, traditional leaders can thus in fact play an important role in guiding their communities if they realize that much of the present image of women and men and their relationship informs behavior which in turn leads to consequences (fruits) everyone recognizes as negative: unwanted pregnancies, unhappy families, the separation of couples, the spread of HIV/Aids, as well as general frustration, fear and worry in the community. While certainly leaving out a number of more controversial topics related to SGBV such as FGM, I was definitely impressed by how well the issue was received by the chiefs, many of whom might not discuss gender roles and SGBV in any other settings. Just as the youth roundtable the week before, this session taught me about planning activities and presenting issues in ways that are appropriate for the respective audience and enable constructive discussions rather than insisting on talking about everything related to the issue or falling into jargon that is disconnected from the reality of the participants. If tradition is a source of SGBV it will not help to exclude traditional leaders or simply mark their beliefs as bad. A change in mindsets and practices (even if incremental) will only come about through continuous engagement, cooperation and sincere attempts at understanding the issue from their perspective. Without doubt this constitutes a challenge, even more so for me as I come from a different culture, but it is also a valuable exercise in practicing patience, persistence, and flexibility, all at the same time.

The Politics of Language

I have recently been collaborating with my colleague Amanda on a Response Plan for the 'temporarily protected people' from Syria, who have been living outside the camps, in the urban and rural areas of Turkey. It was while we were being briefed on our project, that I realized for the first time, what a problematic term 'refugee' can be; especially when examined against the larger context of international politics. The Syrians who have fled their own country and sought refuge in Turkey, are not, in fact, 'refugees'. They are 'temporarily protected people', whom the Turkish Government has agreed to provide for, till the end (and assuming there will be an end) of the Syrian Crisis.

For the purpose of this post, let us refer to the Syrians -- albeit erroneously -- as refugees. UNHCR predicts that by the end of this year, there will be close to 1 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, of which 300,000 will be living in the camps, while the remaining 700,000 will be living in urban and rural areas all over the country. So far, the Turkish Government has done nothing to provide direct aid to the urban 'refugees', but I am inclined to believe that they are now beginning to at least think about them. Perhaps that is why we have been asked to formulate a preliminary approach for Needs Assessment among the urban refugee population. During one of the brainstorming sessions, I wanted to know what the ultimate objective of such a response plan would be. Are we seeking to integrate the urban refugees into the Turkish population, or are we to strictly treat them as outsiders who are being temporarily provided for by the government and other agencies? It turns out, that as a humanitarian organization, we can never independently aim to 'integrate' the urban refugees into the host population. They are looked upon as outsiders, or guests, if you will, whose needs are to be taken care of, until they are ready to return to their country. They are not refugees, because that is a "deeply political issue". They are 'beneficiaries', who are entitled to receiving aid and international protection, but who cannot enjoy the same rights granted to refugees by the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Before coming here, I always referred to the Turkish situation as the 'Syrian Refugee Crisis', assuming that the registered Syrians were granted refugee status, which allowed them to seek to domicile in Turkey. I feel more aware of the technicalities now. Just because hundreds of thousands of people are seeking asylum in another country, they cannot be considered refugees or asylum seekers. Only the host governments can decide what status and rights they are entitled to.

Track II Interning: Keeping Busy, Staying Low

As I start my fourth week with the Turkish Red Crescent, I am no closer to actualizing a summer project than when I began. My plans to circulate a multi-sectoral questionnaire to field teams embedded in a pre-identified cluster of camps have been frozen somewhere between the Head of the Department of International Operations and the higher echelons of organizational management. I was told earlier this afternoon that upper management did not find such an assessment "practical" or "applicable" to current or future programming within Syrian refugee camps. The idea was a nifty one, but moving forward with a serious assessment just wasn't going to happen.

Being as obsessed with gender(ed) implications as I am, I can think of 1.2 million reasons why this assessment is absolutely practical and applicable, but the reality of the situation does not afford me any opportunity to pursue this exercise through official channels. Has anything of the sort been done thus far at TRC, as a way of measuring program impact on men and women? No. Would the Turkish Red Crescent benefit from a "gender audit" of sorts? Yes. Are donors asking for the kind of gender reporting that has slowly but persistently woven its way throughout implementing priorities and best practices? Of course.

This leaves me with the imperative to chip away at carefully-erected information firewalls using unofficial mechanisms, which is something I have been working hard at since I arrived nearly one month ago. When it first became clear that I would not be able to access anything close to a wealth of information about the day-to-day realities of Syrians living within Turkish camps, I very deliberately reached out to the US Embassy here in Ankara.

Through a series of interviews with officials who have been closely following the unfolding crisis in Syria, I was connected with one individual who has been working diligently on the not minuscule task of improving and expanding women's access to social, cultural, political, economic, and legal resources, first, in the US during the second-wave social movements that characterized the Western feminisms of the 1970s and 80s and most recently, in parts of the world where women are not yet burning undergarments in protest (note: I do not think bra-burning is a universal sign that female/feminist consciousness is perfectly crystallized; I simply wanted to leave the reader with one of the more memorable images of modern, US feminism).

With the help of this contact, who has seen a great deal of several camps and spoken to Syrian women (with the help of a third-party translater) about what they need to begin what will be a long and exhausting healing process, I have been able to piece together a composite of what is missing in these camps, lavish as they are with indoor plumbing, laundry facilities, wedding halls and rugmaking classes. What is missing is the freedom and space to pinpoint exactly what kind of damage has been done and what is needed to address it.

What does this even mean? According to my contact, there is an intensely strong cultural imperative to keep quiet about sexual and gender-based violence. A recent Atlantic article covering a project sponsored by the Women's Media Center's Women Under Siege project, documented and collected data to figure out exactly how women and men were being targeted by armed factions in Syria. The following graph is a representation of the data collected (keep in mind that an unknown quantity of violence does not - and may never - figure into these data sets because victims either did not survive the attacks or have not and will not report what happened).

What is even more upsetting is the environment - and attendent dearth of opportunities to heal and seek justice - survivors of SGBV find themselves in once (if) they make it to refugee camps in neighboring countries. "'The reality is that [Syrian refugee women] have much to lose and little to gain by [coming forward publicly] at this point in time, for many reasons... it takes a lot of courage and strength for a victim to speak up and they may be on their own without support as they do it. In addition to the shame and isolation a victim may feel, they are now in an insecure environment due to the war. They may now be living in a large refugee camp with no privacy, surrounded by people they don't know or trust." (Wolfe, "Syria Has a Massive Rape Crisis", 2013).

Therein lies the biggest issue facing female survivors in Turkish camps - no.privacy.whatsoever. And no trust, either. The government has not invested commensurate resources in capacitating and training up and spreading out public health officials to deal with the massive amounts of traumatized men, women and children pouring into the camps (keep in mind that 75% of total camp residents are women and children). Syrians started fleeing their towns en masse in October 2011 and the UN is just now building out a pilot program to tackle the enormous task of rehabilitating traumatized and injured men, women, and children. Simple arithmetic will tell you that at least two years of untreated, trauma-related stress (along with every other physical and emotional injury connected to sexual violence) have passed with untold numbers of individuals suffering in silence.

Based on several interviews with my source, queues to access medical services are long and public, with very few opportunities to privately voice culturally sensitive concerns or requests. Overwhelmingly, women are not comfortable seeking assistance from Turkish practitioners and are doubly uncomfortable - and, sometimes, disallowed by their husbands - to see male practitioners. Many women are choosing to have their children in their tents or containers with the help of Syrian midwives who, by the way, cannot obtain even a temporary work visa in order to receive compensation for the services they deliver.

There is so much at work under the surface of these camps, and so much that is missing from official accounts of camp living. While I may not be able to procure information of this kind from the Red Crescent itself, I am learning that a little persistance mixed with very clear overtures to maintain confidentiality yields great benefits. And rather than look to Angelina Jolie's most recent trip to the region for insight, I will continue to seek out expert sources deeply committed to pushing past bureaucracy to ensure equitable and fair results for communities deeply in need and undeserving of the cruelty of the past two years.

Giving a Voice to All Citizens

This past week I was able to attend and support two activities aimed at strengthening democracy through giving a voice to those who are usually not heard: Hard-to-reach youth in the cities and community members on the countryside. An effective democratic system and sustainable peace depend on the inclusion of all groups of society in the political deliberation and decision-making process, those who are marginalized as much as the elite. This is even more crucial in a post-conflict country such as Liberia where the society is still divided and efforts toward reconciliation are only just starting.

The first activity I joined was a roundtable with twenty-two youths (defined in Liberia as anyone between 18 and 35 years of age) who are ex-combatants, sex workers, drug addicts, and other hard-to-reach persons. In order to draft a youth mainstreaming strategy that will be used by various civil society organizations (CSOs), it was decided that a special event would be dedicated to listening to the concerns of these young adults – concerns that are not captured when only talking to youth in schools or other institutions. Common problems voiced were poor access to health care, especially when it comes to reproductive health, illiteracy and a lack of means to pay for vocational training, rape and the ineffective ways rape cases are dealt with, high rates of criminality, as well as drug and alcohol abuse. In a second step, the participants discussed which services for young people exist in their communities, why they do or do not make use of them, and what their recommendations are to CSOs and to the government to change the situation of young adults like themselves.

Besides granting me a unique opportunity to listen to the stories of these young people and hearing about their day-to-day challenges, taking part in the preparation and implementation of the roundtable also taught me about organizing events in a way that is sensitive to the participants: Should we take notes on a flipchart at all if some of the participants are illiterate? Should people introduce themselves only by first name in order to protect their identities? How can we paraphrase our questions into simple English and still capture the nuances that we aim for? This led to some practical implications for me that I do not experience at events with other populations like helping out in writing name tags for all so they didn’t have to say whether they could write or not, temporarily baby-sitting (a young woman brought her infant with her – almost all of the young women had several children already), and mostly practicing my skills in understanding Liberian English. It was amazing to see how the facilitators gained the trust of the participants, how the young men and women opened up to share their stories, and how even a clearly desperate drug-addicted woman engaging in prostitution started to smile when my colleague turned to hear her story and show empathy instead of judgment. The most vocal of the boys, a former combatant in the civil war, thanked the organizers at the end of the workshop in such a heartfelt way that the entire group cheered and sent us away with smiles and waving hands.

The second activity was a two-day training for community radio station managers and operators to support them in using a SMS technology that is linked to their radio stations. The radios can conduct opinion polls with the listeners sending their answers in through SMS that are free of charge. Practically everyone in Liberia owns a cell phone thus making participation in such polls available to all. The opinion polls can for example be used to survey what people’s priorities are for the use of the development fund that is allocated to the counties, how they think crime and violence should best be dealt with in their communities, or who they would vote for in the next elections. Next to the opinion polls, listeners can send in complaints, for example about weather-induced destruction of houses and roads, rape cases, or incidents of corruption that they witness. When the complaints reach the radio station, the host can broadcast the information, pass it on to the relevant authorities, or bring the issue up in other radio programs so as to raise awareness. Through this technology, a listener living on the Liberian countryside informed one of the participating community radios about the destruction of several houses through a rainstorm, and members of the Red Cross who had listened to the radio show rushed to help rebuild the village. Hopefully, the more widespread use of this SMS-to-radio system can lead to many more of those successes – making it easier for citizens to communicate their concerns with each other and with the relevant authorities and to voice their opinions on issues relevant to the development and governance of their communities. Simple technology can be a powerful tool to involve more people in decision-making processes and to amplify their voices so that the concerns and ideas of as many citizens as possible are entering the political debate.

Peace Education, Stigma and Reflections in Ciudad Bolivar

One of the main streets at the very top of the mountain

Move This World Colombia has begun a partnership with Fundacion Nueva Vida in Cuidad Bolivar. Ciudad Bolivar is one of the poorest districts of Bogota with a wicked reputation. It is known for its poverty, gangs, drug use and criminal activity. Many of the district’s residents are families and individuals who have been displaced by the internal armed conflict with guerilla movements and paramilitaries and those who have been displaced by conflict generated from narco-trafficking. Many individuals who live in the North of Bogota have never ventured into the “South.” I had the opportunity to participate in Junior Peace Mover trainings and to attend our first of 15 workshops for 2 youth groups within the Fundacion. I will also be responsible for facilitating these sessions on Saturdays with other Peace Movers. Some of my initial observations about Ciudad Bolivar:

• Given its reputation very few NGOs or social organizations operate in the area, depriving an already vulnerable population of additional and beneficial services.
• The stigma that accompanies the district discourages residents of Northern Bogota from entering the district thusly limiting the number of Colombians from volunteering their time on social projects.
• There is also a geographic challenge as many parts of Ciudad Bolivar are extremely isolated from transportation. The Transmileno (the main bus service in Bogota) offers complimentary buses that go up the mountains to the highest points of the district, but there are still many unpaved roads that are inaccessible by bus. Many of the Fundacion’s participants have to walk or bus over 30-60 minutes just to participate in activities.
• The realities of the neighborhood (criminal/gang/drug activity is a real occurrence) forces the Fundacion’s activities to be very conscious of time and night fall, thusly limiting operational hours and accessibility.
• The realities also force visitors to be extremely careful with what they bring with them, i.e. reduced ability to bring lap-tops, cameras and other useful materials for the learning process.
• The stigma, which leads to, a lack of outside participation, support and projects generates a cycle which reproduces inequalities, ensuring that certain areas of the city will receive these services and potentially develop while creating a larger challenge on Ciudad Bolivar.
• The city government is taking strides to help deliver basic services to the district and there are many road projects currently in construction.

The view of Ciudad Bolivar and other parts of Bogota

My experiences thus far in this district have been positive, with the Junior Peace Movers showing me local cafes and stores and recommending where I can buy dulces (since I have an unbelievable sweet tooth) and what is the best bus stop to get off on. This experience, and I am sure it will become more nuanced as I spend more time with this group, raises the question of how to reduce stigma of a place. 

Some of my questions have been:

o   How to encourage development or conflict resolution programs/projects in an area that many people are scared to venture to?

o   How to create community buy-in, especially for when these projects are generally ‘future-oriented’ (or at least long term) when many families live day-to-day?

o   How to create a mutually beneficial relationship between people from within the community and people outside of the community so that both parties can learn and grow?

As a final thought related to my introductory experiences in Ciduad Bolivar have been how to logistically implement MTW peace education curriculum (or for that matter any type of peace education curriculum) for this specific population or any specific population (i.e. youth, rural populations, indigenous populations, those living in extreme poverty, IDP populations etc.). This experience, in translating some of the educational material and work discussions, has generated some thoughts:

§  How to ensure that high level ‘academic’ or ‘theoretical’ concepts can clearly be translated to a young population? What is the best, or most effective, way to communicate the essence of these theories to a youth population or an uneducated population?

§  What is the most effective way to encourage parent participation, especially when parents face other competing priorities (long work days, other children, single parents, geographic distance, cost of child participating in activities)?

§  What is the most effective way or ways to reinforce core concepts (of peace, conflict resolution, violence prevention) for youth (or any given population) so that they translate into every day practices?

An example of graffiti adorning the public spaces of Cuidad Bolivar

I look forward to continue working with the Junior Peace Movers and the rest of the youth participating in our workshops at Fundacion Nueva Vida and continuing to learn more about Ciudad Bolivar.

Observing the Ankara Protests as an Outsider

We’re approaching the end of our second week in Ankara. Despite the political unrest and the 12-hour work days, these two weeks have been slow. In a way I am thankful, for I feel like I had a lot more time to observe and reflect on current events. When we reached Ankara on June 1^st, I had no idea of what had happened the previous day. I had not read the travel alerts in the 24 hours before my arrival, and neither had I seen the news. I thought Turkey had won some important international tournament or sports series, because the ‘protest’ seemed festive, rather than angry. We realized that our apartment was right in the heart of the very neighbourhood where the people of Ankara were holding their demonstrations. While on the one hand this meant that we would bear close witness to the events of the following days, on the other hand, it also involved the occasional tear gas-induced eye irritation, and the incessant banging of pots and pans every single night.

Let’s consider the protesters to collectively be Person A and the government (or rather, Erdogan) to be Person B. Person B, a representative of an essentially Islamist political party has been in power for over 10 years in a country that prides itself over its secular and liberal ethos. Understandably, there are concerns about ‘creeping Islamization’, a movement from liberalism to fundamentalism, and increasing restrictions on various kinds of freedoms. Until the 30^th of May, there were no instances of overt rebellion or opposition towards Person B. Person A was aware of some uncomfortable changes, but chose not to make a big deal of it. Then came the plan to redevelop Taksim Square in Istanbul, where among other things, a new mosque was going to be built. This set off warning bells in the minds of many citizens, who hold this part of the city close to their heart. It wasn’t meant to be a huge anti-government protest – more like a sit-in, in order to voice their concern over the environmental consequences of this redevelopment project. So far, this cannot be called a conflict at all. It all makes sense.


Source: http://recoveringengineer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/why-conflicts-escalate.jpg

 

So what caused this to escalate into a conflict? The instruments of the state, the police (or Person C) came into the picture. They used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the peacefully gathered crowd. This is the part I cannot understand. What provoked the police to use such extreme measures against the peaceful protesters? Who gave them these orders? Was it the government? If so, why did they feel it was important to take such extreme measures?

By now, a conflict situation is created. Person A, who was already beginning to feel threatened, moves to the next stage – anger. They reflect on all the grievances they have had against Person B, including the banning of alcohol after 10 PM, and the restrictions on public display of affection. The very ideals and way of life that set Turkey apart from the other Islamic countries of this region were now being gradually taken away from them. They had to react.

What started as a simple opposition to a redevelopment project has now spiraled into something far more deep-rooted and diverse. In the spirit of the pots and pans metaphor, all these cities are now like little pressure cookers, going off from time to time, to let off some steam. Every morning, the people of Ankara dress up and go to work or to school. Throughout the day, they fulfil their professional or academic responsibilities. Then they get back home in the evening, change into comfortable clothes, pick up their horns, whistles, pots, pans, and flags, and take to the streets. The demonstrations last till 2 or 3 in the morning, until the police arrives and splits them up. More and more people are joining these protests now, and everyone seems to be bringing in their own creative ways of ‘chapulling’.

This is pretty much how it has been here at Tunali, Ankara, for the last 2 weeks. Erdogan, too, seems to be going through the same stages of conflict escalation described above. He perceived a threat from the people, got angry, made inappropriate declarations on national television, left for Morocco hoping that the tension would diffuse in his absence, came back, continued making inappropriate remarks about his lack of patience, used more tear gas, water cannons and riot police to 'intimidate' the people, and has finally agreed to ‘consider’ a referendum on the issue of the park. I’m going to reserve any judgement till the very end of my stay, but so far, it has been most interesting to view this situation through the various lenses of the CR discipline. More later.

 

Building Work from Scratch

For many Americans, one of the absolute most challenging things about living abroad is the loss of easy access to our favorite foods. I cannot count the times that I sat at my apartment window in Shabran, Azerbaijan as a Peace Corps Volunteer and dreamed as hard as I could about what I would eat as soon as I got home. 

Out of this great need to substitute bacon-avocado-cheeseburgers and seared ahi tataki rolls for dishes borne of more local ingredients came the Peace Corps Volunteer recipe book. The lessons learned of adventurous bakers and chefs of years past had been carefully collected and bound into what was more of an instruction manual for maintaining the soul than anything else. I remember the moment when I realized that brown sugar, an ingredient found only in one store on this one corner of a street in the capital, could be made from combining sugar and honey, two ingredients that could be found in almost any village bazaar. It was like being hit in the face with the very real possibility of baking chocolate chip cookies, in my own home and without having to spend ¼ of my monthly stipend on transportation and over-inflated expat prices. It was a day filled with the joy of knowing that the impossible reality of eating batches of cookies by myself had been dissipated with the help of a little know-how and innovation.

Why am I talking about ad hoc baking in a blog focused on detailing the experiences of working on conflict resolution? For those of you who have read John Paul Lederach’s The Moral Imagination, the answer might be obvious. For those of you who have not, it may help to know that Lederach uses the concept of wetting and sweetening yeast to grow bread dough to explain the effect he thinks a small, socially and peacefully conscious group of individuals can have on building and growing a movement.

Maybe you are still asking why I care about sugar and honey, then. My answer involves the following explanation: I have spent the last two weeks trying to flesh out what my role at the Red Crescent should be. I do not have clear tasks or objectives to meet on a daily basis, and staff oversight of my work is very limited. Much of this relates to the sheer volume of responsibility that weighs on staff here and some of it relates to my colleague and I being the first foreign interns at the organization in its history. These factors, combined with only having worked a total of 8 business days thus far, have led me to an impasse of sorts. I find myself wondering what it is that I am going to do every day from morning until it’s time to pack up our bags and board the shuttle home.

What am I going to do for work when there is no history of hosting summer interns, access to information is limited, and there was no predetermined scope of work to lay the foundations for the summer? How can I possibly bake chocolate cookies without brown sugar (are you starting to see the connection)? Intrinsically, I know the answer is rooted in how willing I am to innovate and locate the connections between how I perceive I can be useful and what the organization needs but may not explicitly ask for. If what I want is work, then what I need to find are disparate components that on their own appear unrelated, but together can create the basis for a meaningful project. I think the degree to which I feel accomplished at the end of these 10 weeks will be entirely dependent on the creativity I employ to carve out a niche for myself.

So, here is to mixing and matching strange ingredients! And cheers to the idea of building purpose out of creative experiments!

The Summer Field Program is supported and organized by the Georgetown Conflict Resolution Program. Please visit our website at http://conflictresolution.georgetown.edu.

Prisons, Stakeholders, Evaluations, and The Netherlands

An adventure in the evaluation process:

This past week has been phenomenal. I was permitted to participate, as an observer and "information recorder", in an evaluation of Partners Hungary Foundation's criminal and prison mediation projects. These two projects involved stakeholders (at multiple levels), and show-cased the importance of building relationships in order to achieve success when implementing projects. Due to the nature of the evaluation, the protection of privacy, and ethical guidelines- I am only able to blog about the broad aspects of my participation in this process.  That being said:

• I was able to visit a prison that had participated in the prison mediation project. This was a pilot project, and is no longer active. The main aim of the project was to train key staff members in mediation techniques, in order to facilitate communication and solve conflict within the prison system. Mediation was intended to improve the relationship between: the prison and the surrounding community, between prisoners and staff, and conflicts arising between the prisoners themselves. 
• The evaluation of this project was enlightening, however I can't discuss it. I can however mention that:
• I was given a tour of the facilities and it is evident that I had visited an  progressive and innovative institution. The prison provided multiple ways of engaging prisoners in a positive and productive way. Prisoners are able to participate in art classes, and frequently produce art for the prison itself. For example, there are multiple murals and stained glass windows in tjis specific prison. Prisoners, may also participate in a story-telling class, and  a landscaping project.
• The prison was an all male strict-to-medium level facility. 
• PHF provided mediation training to the prison's staff: social workers, guards,  department heads etc. 
• I received a wonderful painting, from the department head, that a prisoner had painting. It depicts the prison's location along the Slovakian-Hungarian border.
• Dedicated actors are crucial to providing these projects to prisoners, as the process of applying for funding, training, and experts is time consuming and difficult.
• There will always be criticisms and tension around whether to fund projects geared towards prisoners.
• There was a relatively high mix of both women and men working at the prison. Based on observation.
• This was one of the most enlightening and inspiring experiences I have had thus far. Although I can't publish what I learn't, I have a new sense of clarity within the practice of conflict resolution.
• Please do not take my notes to mean that the prison did not function as one. Although it was progressive and provided activities and forms of engagement for prisoners it is still a prison in the classic sense of the word. The men there are completing sentences for the crimes they committed.
• The European Union (EU) has a directive that every country in the EU must have some form of criminal mediation integrated into its judicial procedure. In Hungary, this directive began in 2007.  Partners Hungary Foundation played a key role in providing the mediation training and expertise required to prepare the overall system for the implementation of criminal mediation. 
• The process involved multiple actors from different levels of the system
• Disseminating information regarding mediation and it's legitimacy as a tool for conflict resolution was key.
• During the evaluation I met members of the judiciary, social workers, probation officers, lawyers etc.
• Politics and legislated mediation processes produce interesting dynamics.
• Funding is a key role in all attempts at creating an institutionalized process for criminal mediation.
• Again, I feel as if I have gained insight into the complexities of: project implementation, multi-actor negotiations, the importance of legitimacy and comprehension, the interaction between sectors of government and their relationships with society and civil institution, and the importance of timing.
• As a future conflict resolution practitioner were are often giving a "tool-belt of skills" and encouraged to use them in order to understand what works best for us as individuals. During the evaluation I was able to:
• Focus on active listening. 
• Really develop my ability to read body language and non-verbal indicators of emotion, specific to Hungarians.
• Understand how the evaluation process works- specifically an interview based case study.
• Participate in the Hungarian-English translation and comprehension process.

Roma mediation/health care part 2:

During the evaluation process I was able to revisit the community of Nagyecsed- where the toilette building initiative had previously taken place. It was a wonderful chance to debrief on the project and gather interviews relating to the successes and potential hurdles associated with intercultural mediation and community driven development. In Nagyecsed we interviewed the mayor, a Roma mediator, the key family healthcare actor, and a local community participant. It is evident that community development projects can often lead to a sense of empowerment and purpose. It was this feeling that many found most rewarding. Perhaps the most universal comment made across all the areas visited was the importance of funding, and the difficulties associated with securing funding.
In Nyirbator we discussed intercultural mediation and its relationship with the local government and the social services sector. Pictured to the right is a Roma mediator and community facilitator. She is considered a role model, as she went back to school in order to secure her diploma later in life-after raising seven children. She serves as a key point person, and has one of the most charismatic personalities around. We had a wonderful time trying to communicate through a mixture of universal sounds (such as gasps) and charade like movements. One of the most interesting aspects of her role as a mediator is that she works at an informal level. We were often stopped as we walked around the city by local Roma who had questions and concerns that they thought she could address and advice them on. 

The Netherlands

I have a friend, Sarah, who is currently studying conflict management at Leiden University. I had planned on visiting her while in Budapest and when I found out that our mutual friend Sheila would be visiting at the same time, I jumped at the chance. The trip was primarily a reunion, however we were able to participate in an international festival that celebrated diversity and culture in the Leiden community. The main set up consisted of tables, located in an old factory, that would represent a country. Each table was responsible for providing food and drinks that were unique or representative of their country. The members of team USA, to which I gladly volunteered my labor, made mac-and-cheese and chili. In addition, there was passion fruit and pineapple in order to represent Hawaii. The festival itself was fantastic, as table representatives answered questions on culture and norms in their countries. Among the many topics discussed were:

• The differences in regions within the USA, and how each state is unique in itself.
• A polite discussion ( read friendly argument) over whether the USA has a "culture" emerged.
• The table representing Turkey had a heated discussion regarding their current political situation.
• There was a rally, in Amsterdam, the night before.
• The mayor of Leiden showed up. I think that members of the local government showing support for community diversity, and events that celebrate multiculturalism, is a crucial step in developing strong and sustainable relationships with different groups within a broader community. 
• I was able to participate in a workshop in which we taught festival attendees how to line-dance...and how to "Cupid Shuffle".
• The proximity of countries in Europe means that most people I met at the festival have had the opportunity to experience different cultures. I'm not sure if and how this has impacted the experience of multiculturalism in the Netherlands, but I would love to investigate the topic further.

My week has been filled with experiences that are geared at building relationships and effective forms of communication. While I may not be able to express all my findings. I am able to say that I currently feel very fulfilled. Budapest is also starting to feel like home.

This picture at a local museum made me laugh. Harry Potter seems to be popular no matter where you are.

No Hay Camino a La Paz, La Paz es El Camino

I will be spending the next 10 weeks interning with Move This World Colombia (MTW), a small NGO that utilizes dance and creative movement to promote violence prevention, self-awareness and empowerment, particularly amongst youth. Since the office in Colombia is rather small, I am excited about the opportunity to take on multiple roles within the organization and learn how MTW operates as an organization and how it achieves its goals. Additionally, I am greatly interested in learning how Conflict Resolution theory is put into practice and MTW serves as a terrific example because they are directly utilizing theories of change coupled with monitoring and evaluation programs to assess their impact.

Panelists at the conference "Cual es el Papel de la Educacion
para la Promocion de Paz en Colombia"

     My first full day in Colombia (June 6) was jam packed with meetings and conferences. I would like to highlight the conference we attended “Cual es el papel de la educacion para la promocion de paz en Colombia?” (What is the role of education that promotes peace in Colombia?) This panel discussion was hosted by Somos CaPAZes, a Colombian NGO that promotes peace through stories, songs and other creative activities. Three panelists: a university political science professor, a former guerilla fighter and the president of Yo Creo en Colombia, another NGO promoting peace, answered questions related to education, violence and peace in Colombia. This entire conference reminded me of two Georgetown classes: Conflict Resolution Skills and Conflict Resolution Theory. 

            The first question centered on what is peace. The responses included: attitude, your environment including the wellbeing of everyone, social justice, development and the stimulation of creativity and that peace is a change of mind in culture. This question highlights the multiplicity of ideas in relation to what is peace. Peace can relate solely to an individual and creating internal peace, a country trying to create positive peace or the international system working towards negative peace.

            Secondly, the panelists answered the question, “How is it possible to educate for Peace?” A candid, and I think incredibly insightful response, was through the sharing of powerful stories to elicit a change of conscious. A panelist argued that you cannot even teach peace or trust it is only something you can learn through experience. She elaborated that instead of teaching theories of change and peace, education should focus on generating situations (simulations, activities, story telling etc.) where trust, empathy and peace can be experienced.  An incredible important response was that as peacebuilders and peace-educators we need to stop focusing on the end goal of “peace” because it is such an abstract concept and often intangible, but rather HOW we will arrive at this goal, because there are many benefits in the process of arriving. Furthermore, education must not only be in a formal academic setting but extend to the workplace and especially to the family.

            During their discussion about how is education relevant for the peace process in Colombia, an incredibly important comment was made, that we must begin to embrace a “paz imperfecta” or an imperfect peace. Peace is like a human being, it is flawed and imperfect, but if we understand this idea it is easier to work towards peace. Additionally, a panelist mentioned that we need to give up our double morality. Many professors, activists, peace workers etc. promote a certain morality in their work such as equality for all or social justice and then in their personal lives and relationships they do not embrace this. One female panelist mentioned that she promoted all of these ideas in her classroom and then at night returned home to a husband who demanded unequal gender roles, which completely negated her ‘work morality.’

            For some recommendations the panelists encouraged that peace starts with the individual and everyday we have the possibility of starting new, that systems and structures are in fact made by people and that peace efforts need to be visible and recognized. Only awarding one Nobel Peace Prize blinds us to the fact there are numerous impressive peace efforts around the world. Perhaps universities with Peace Studies or Conflict Resolution programs could offer “peace” awards to deserving students or community activists.

            I expect this summer to be extremely rewarding albeit I am sure there will be challenges, such as the fact that I am trying to write this blog in English and all of my notes from the conference are in Spanish. I expect that through my work with MTW I will gain a greater insight into how to develop meaningful partnerships with other organizations, how to recruit and train volunteers, how to implement a creative movement based curriculum and how to implement Conflict Resolution theory into practice.