Author Archive
Sunday, December 14th, 2008
Trauma Healing in Rurengera
This week I was upcountry in Rurengera for an advanced HROC workshop. The three day advanced workshop is for those who have already attended the basic workshop, and goes into greater depth on the topics of trauma healing and reconciliation.
The workshop was somewhat dark – taking place in the crumbling remains of an old Friends [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Thanksgiving in Burundi
Like a number of people from the US, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holidy, since it is focused around being together with family and giving thanks, with little material focus, except for on food of course.
And at least according to the mythology of Thanksgiving, it was from the start a multicultural event, so while [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Planting Seeds of Solidarity
Some of my passions that tend to fall by the wayside in my work are for environmentmental stewardship, addressing global warming, and organic food. But over the past few months Adrien, Désiré and I have been putting together a program to incorporate these along with our peace work all in one project.
The idea is rooted [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Friday, November 7th, 2008
For John McKendy
John McKendy, a regular reader of this blog and friend of mine, was killed on October 31, allegedly by his daughter’s estranged ex-husband. John had come to Burundi the last two summers as a workcamper with the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI), and in particular helped to build the clinic for the Friends Women’s Association. [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Travels in Kenya, Uganda
So it has been a while since my last post, first of all because of a month of traveling during which time I didn’t have internet, and then due to the flu which kept me rather occupied (sleeping) for the past week.
The first week of my travels was to the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Peeling tomatoes
Well it’s been almost a month since I last wrote, which is perhaps a sort of unplanned summer vacation from blogville. But I haven’t been just sitting around watching the Jacaranda trees bloom. I’ve been working on grants of course, and also did some writing and interviews for AGLI’s newsletter Peaceways, which this quarter focuses on Burundi [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Jérome’s Story
Over the past month I have listened to the stories of more than 50 people in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and here in Burundi. They were people who had lived through conflict and had participated in trauma healing and reconcilaition workshops as part of our “Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC) Program. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
Not Development, Transformation
In my recent travels, I had the chance to learn more about the work of AGLI as well as other organizations involved in peace and development work. It also gave me a chance to reflect on the 11 weeks that I have spent so far in Africa. That is just a short time of course, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Friday, August 1st, 2008
“We can be denied everything else, but we need peace.”
I just wanted to share a few more themes that cropped up in my interviews with HROC participants in DRC that I found instructive.
In the Mugungu I IDP camp, I sat with a group of HROC participants in a room made of plastic tarp. As we talked, gravel made from lava crunched underfoot [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Monday, July 28th, 2008
Trauma and Healing in the Congo
So after more travels than I expected (with a surprise trip around Burundi tacked on to my original plan) I am now back in Bujumbura, with computer access which means I will hopefully be able to a little more editing than my last post (sorry!) as well as include some pictures (top to bottom: [...]
