While southern Sudan desperately needs more schools, efforts are being made by the government, CRS and other agencies to give children the education they deserve. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

Tom Purekal moved to Juba in July 2009 to serve as CRS’ program manager for peacebuilding and governance in southern Sudan. Here is his first report from the field.

I chose a critical time to work in southern Sudan. So much of what happens over the next two years will set the tone for the country’s future, which is especially relevant for my work in peacebuilding and governance.

After finishing an intense two years with CRS in India, I was looking for a challenging project that would bring me to Africa for the first time in my career. In terms of need, Sudan doesn’t disappoint.
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In an ironic twist of fate, riots in Kampala affected a Caritas- and government-sponsored peacebuilding conference in Kampala. The riots broke out yesterday in reaction to a planned Saturday visit of a local king to an area near the capital that says it has seceded from his kingdom, according to the BBC. Caritas Internationalis’ head of communications Patrick Nicholson shares an update from the conference, which fortunately was able to continue. Our prayers go out for a rapid return to peace and reconciliation.

Rt. Rev. Cornelius Korir, Bishop of the Diocese of Eldoret in Kenya, addresses guests during the official launch of a book and video documentary that describes his peacebuilding methodology. Photo by Gilbert Namwonja/CRS

CRS Kenya recently helped to honor the Bishop of the Diocese of Eldoret, Rt. Rev. Cornelius Korir, at a ceremony introducing a book and video documentary highlighting the Bishop’s extensive peacebuilding efforts after the disputed elections in Kenya in late December 2007.

At the ceremony, speaker after speaker lauded the Bishop’s relentless pursuit of peace. For the past 17 years, Bishop Korir has been brokering peace at the community level among different communities in the diocese. His efforts became even more critical when the post-election violence erupted. Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Australia, using funding from AusAid, enabled the Bishop to increase peacebuilding activities across the diocese as part of the Rift Valley Amani (“Peace” in Swahili) project.

The Bishop explained to the audience that his peace model worked very well in resolving conflict between the people of the Marakwet and Pokot ethnic groups. Instead of holding peace conferences for elites in air-conditioned hotels, his method facilitates amani mashinani—peace at the grassroots—right where the people most affected by violence live.

Impressed by the Bishop’s considerable results, CRS documented the peacebuilding activities in both a book and video. These materials describe the step-by-step methodology used by the Diocese, which starts with person-to-person contact and then grows over time into group-to-group encounters, community-connecting projects and eventually localized peace agreements.

Fr. Dr. Pius Male, executive director of Gaba campus for the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, is one of many who plan to leverage the new peacebuilding materials. “The book is going to become one of our manuals in the short courses we offer on peace,” he noted.

Reported by Gilbert Namwonja, CRS Kenya information services unit manager.

By bringing people together to save and lend money, SILC groups in Sudan are building bonds of friendship that help promote peaceful coexistence. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

John Katunga, CRS’ regional technical advisor for peacebuilding and justice in East Africa, shares thoughts from his recent visit to Khartoum, Sudan.

A few months ago, I traveled to Sudan to explore ways to integrate peacebuilding activities into our vocational training initiatives and development of Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) in the Khartoum area. Little did I know that peacebuilding was already taking place on its own.

I sat down with two of the 50 SILC groups our local partners have helped form in camps near Khartoum housing people displaced by various conflicts. I learned that these groups are bringing together very diverse women—women of different religions, ethnic backgrounds and regions of Sudan.

The women told me that through their SILC groups they had created strong bonds of friendship. The members of one group also shared that they have pledged to address any conflicts that arise internally before calling upon external assistance.
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Sahar Frangieh, Project Officer for CRS Lebanon, writes from Beirut about how our work helps young people in troubled Lebanese villages:

The global economic crisis is affecting everyone around the world; families are suffering from unemployment and social instability. Inequity among people is increasing. The high price of food and fuel is threatening families’ sustainability, especially in rural areas. However, change can happen.

Rima Sleiman is a young woman whose life was touched by CRS. This law graduate, born and still living with her family in Qsaibe, a rural village in South Lebanon, had been searching for a job opportunity close to her home. She wanted an opportunity to improve her life, contribute financially to her family’s rising costs of living, and at the same time fulfill her dreams.
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A pilgrim prays by candlelight at the wall of Christ’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the old city of Jerusalem. This is one of the holiest sites in the world for Christians. As the holiday season approaches and we sing about peace on earth, CRS reflects on its nearly 50 years of service in the Holy Land.

Our projects aim to support peace with justice for all people in this troubled region. Years of conflict have made youngsters feel bleak about their futures., CRS gives them a sense of hope and possibility with programs that introduce them to potential career paths, and encourage them to help the less fortunate. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Dear Friend,

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, violence and civil unrest continue to dominate the daily headlines. The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo cry out for an end to their suffering. Our own country is engaged in two wars. The birthplace of Jesus remains a troubled region.

In this Christmas season, the question haunts us: Is there hope for peace?

Some years back, as Catholic Relief Services reflected on the horror of the genocide in Rwanda, the devastation that occupied Somalia and the upheaval unleashed in the Balkans, we set in place a new theme in CRS programs: peacebuilding.

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Hussein, a 23-year-old man living in a volatile region of Lebanon, is part of CRS’ peacebuilding programs for youth. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

“I hated what happened…we knew two guys who died in Beirut. I don’t feel safe any more. I am not even worried about my future but about what will happen tomorrow morning.”

These fearful words by a 24-year-old man about last May’s fighting in Lebanon underscore the tensions that threaten this fragile Middle Eastern country. There are more than a dozen political parties in Lebanon, 18 religious groups, and involvement from other countries who see Lebanon as key to advancing their own interests. Too often ordinary Lebanese feel powerless before their own political leaders and those of other countries.

Lebanon has been in the news a lot recently. In May, it chose a president after months of deadlock marked by assassinations and fighting. Last week, it named its government ministers after an 18-month standoff. This week, it exchanged prisoners with Israel, bringing some closure to the war of summer 2006. Everyone watching this complex, troubled land hopes it can overcome a decades-old legacy of violence.

With its peacebuilding programs, CRS is helping Lebanese communities to find common ground. In the south of Lebanon, where political and religious divisions among Shia, Sunni, and Christian groups have caused problems, CRS partners ask people from opposing factions to brainstorm projects everyone in a town can agree on. These “consensus building” programs focus on improvements like better water and electrical systems. In Minyeh, a poor town in the north of Lebanon, CRS works with local partner Na-am to teach young people in their 20s about good government. The young people ask their neighbors what would make their community better, and then work with town authorities and with each other to make it happen. Youth are having strong impact — in one town the adults have noted that the municipality picks up the trash more frequently now that the youth are more involved. (more…)

Debbie DeVoe, CRS’ regional information officer for East Africa, shares the latest from West Darfur in Sudan.

Peering out the helicopter window, my stomach dropped again. This time it wasn’t from the twinge of fear I felt when the nose of the U.N. chopper dipped forward on liftoff. It was from what I was seeing on the ground.

Beyond the desire to return to her village, Mariam Abdalla Bakhit hopes that her children and all women will become educated. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

We were dropping into Sileia on our way to Sirba – two large villages in West Darfur that suffered immensely during recent government efforts to drive out rebels. After flying for miles over the stark but beautiful desert landscape, golden glints of thatched huts and fences appeared in the distance. As we got closer, the view changed drastically.

Next to a cluster of picturesque family compounds was a sickening scar of scorched earth. Blackened circles clearly marked where huts had been burned to the ground. The helicopter banked left, and the scene repeated itself.

Five years in, the conflict in Darfur continues unabated. More than 2 million people are displaced from their homes, feeling too scared to return to their villages and risk another attack. Each week, the number grows. Yet, somehow, people still find hope.

Eleven-year-old Faiza Khalil Hamad is happy to be attending classes in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina: “I used to look after our sheep every day, but now I am in school. I have learned a lot so far. I like school.” Abdullah Assal is proud to be part of a Catholic Relief Services food relief committee that helps distribute emergency rations each month to thousands of people, pleased to be helping his neighbors.

Mariam Abdalla Bakhit, who has lived in an El Geneina camp since January 2007, misses her house and garden and farm and animals. Ask her how she’s doing, and she’ll say “well” — much better than when she first arrived with nothing. Her husband Abdul Karim Hassan describes their life a bit more stoically: “Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s normal.”

It can be disturbing to see just how normal life appears at times in Darfur. School girls play jump rope. Small boys drag along wooden cars tied to string. Men chat over tea and coffee in wooden shacks, while coworkers sit down for a midmorning breakfast of fried goat, beans and puffy bread. Cars zip along El Geneina’s recently paved roads, lined with shops that sell everything from soap to hookah pipes.

Sit down for a longer conversation though, and smiles disappear. Women fear for their personal safety when they have to go into the bush to collect firewood. Men can’t find enough work to support their families. An older woman shows me her paralyzed hand and the responsible bullet lodged in her upper arm.

When it comes time for me to leave — a luxury I’m well aware of — I ask my new friends Mariam and Abdul if they have any questions for me. “This is difficult to ask,” Abdul replies, “but when will the conflict end and peace come?”

CRS joins with Caritas Internationalis in mourning the death of Archbishop Rahho of Mosul in northern Iraq. Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped last week and was found dead today. The following is a statement from Caritas Internationalis:

Caritas says the tragic death of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul in northern Iraq highlights the urgency of ending the violence in the country and the region.

The archbishop was kidnapped on February 29 in Mosul after a deadly shootout in which three of his companions were killed. He was found dead on Thursday 13 March.

Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organisation of 162 national Catholic charities that includes Caritas Iraq, said peacebuilding efforts need to be supported both within local communities, nationally and internationally to bring a halt to the conflict.

Caritas Iraq runs peacebuilding training courses in many places in the country, trying to break through distrust and suspicion among communities.

Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Lesley-Anne Knight said, “Archbishop Rahho was a man who sought peace and dialogue in a country at war. All sides of the conflict in Iraq have a duty not to target civilians. Archbishop Rahho supported peacebuilding efforts including those carried out by Caritas, which makes his death even more tragic and senseless. Caritas again calls for an end of all violence in Iraq and in the region, and for the safe release of all people taken hostage. Peace through dialogue is the only way forward.”

Caritas Iraq has been active since 1992 providing humanitarian relief, especially to new mothers and babies, and peacebuilding work since 2003.

Since 2003, CRS has been one of several Caritas Internationalis supporters of Caritas Iraq’s work with the internally displaced population and with those who have been marginalized within an increasingly desperate and violent situation.