Coming home after a sabbatical is a love-hate journey. I love connecting with friends. I hate shopping and all the ‘stuff.’ I love curbside recycling; I hate all the plastic packaging in the US. Many friends are interested in the trip: What did you learn? What was the...
I am ending my sabbatical with 4 days in Varanasi, the holy Hindu city, thousands of years old. Varanasi, maybe the oldest city in the world, is also known as Kashi, the City of Light. Temples, all 800 of them, light torches and ring bells twice a day. Shiva, the...
What makes the city of Bhopal in India famous? It is crowned with a huge lake, and is dubbed the City of Lakes. Have you heard of its amazing inter-religious harmony- Christians, Jains, Hindus-- all respect each other-- and almost a third of its population Muslim?...
The first of June saw the last day of our Nepal marathon—6 days straight doing AVP workshops.The last three days were at PsychDesk, a counseling/training center. Eighteen graduate psych students and social workers came, about ten were turned away for lack of space....
We facilitated an AVP workshop in Ramecchap Nepal for 18 Evangelical Friends. These Friends are not used to workshops on peace, social issues or self-esteem. The church has no running water nor chairs. But these Quakers were very savvy about social justice. They...
So what's different about doing AVP in Nepal? Alternatives to Violence is very needed and very welcomed in this country. Nepal, lying on the backbone of the world is wedged between 2 military giants: China and India. Nepal is around the size of New York, although it...
What can be more exotic than Kathmandu, Nepal? We will not go to the world's rooftop or graze Mt. Everest. But we are happy to live in cooler climes. Mountain breezes brush prayer flags drying clothes equally. The mood is gentler: religion, farms and shops blend...
We have been in India for 3 weeks. It's a amazing place and I know so little about it. English is always hard to understand, only about 10% can speak with us. In Kerala the local language is Mayalayam which has beautiful script. It is related to the Tamil language....
Solange was 5 years old in 1994, yet parts of the genocide are brittle and clear. When the slaughter started in April, she learned that her family is Tutsi. Solange lost two older brothers; and her sister who was just 11 years old. All four of her grandparents were...
Does the generation now in their 20s, born after the genocide, concern themselves with peace and justice? Peacebuilding is more than non-violence. Nor is it an individual endeavor. To work for peace (inside and out) is to work for your salvation. Rwanda Friends, like...