Lebanon -- encouraging peacemakers
News from the Middle East is filled with images of violence and stories
of intractable hatreds. But in this troubled region are also many people
working tirelessly for peace.
Peacebuilding Institute
To encourage peace workers' efforts, MCC Lebanon and the MCC Middle East
Department annually send five to eight people from the region to Eastern
Mennonite University's Summer Peacebuilding Institute. For six weeks,
they join other peace workers from around the world in Harrisonburg, Va.,
sharing experiences, making friends and studying mediation and peace-related
topics.
Zoughbi Zougbhi, director of the Wi'am Conflict Resolution Center in
Bethlehem, West Bank, said the EMU experience "empowered and enhanced"
his peace work while also "recharging my batteries." Amal Khoudeir
supervises several social services centers in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
"The EMU experience gives the skills needed to work now and also
in the future," she said.
Planning for the future
In January 2002, MCC brought together most of these graduates to reconnect
and plan for the future. A rare opportunity to meet with other peacemakers
from the region, this workshop inspired participants to plan future gatherings,
said Armen Balian of the Lebanese Conflict Resolution Network.
MCC is committed to helping these peacebuilders as they work under difficult
conditions.
$9,230 Cdn/$6,000 US
sends one participant to the EMU Summer Peacebuilding Institute
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