the news posts for the sidebar

Special program on Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative

When: 7 to 9 pm Wednesday, March 31^st

Where: Hearthstone, 6720 E Green Lake Way North, Seattle

What: Learn about GCJ’s newest project: the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative.

Executive Director Susan Partnow and volunteer Alexandra Valin have just returned from Liberia where they met with over two dozen local non-profits and offered a mini-summit to pilot this project. The response was positive and enthusiastic, confirming the need for compassionate listening and reconciliation.

You’ll see photos from this recent trip to, including peacebuilding workshops and our meeting with President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, as well as stories about Liberians’ current needs and challenges.

We’ll explore:

How the US role of shipping freed slaves to Liberia and later political decisions contributed to Liberia’s years of conflict and current challenges;
What is needed to build a national identity for Liberia, able to withstand threats and calls to violence amongst over sixteen tribal groups;
Ingredients for a genuine, lasting peace that involve the government, community leaders, and people at the grassroots level.

GCJ is partnering with Population Caring Organization in Liberia to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiation for a community-based network to foster conflict resolution, reconciliation, and sustainable peace.

You can be part of the Journey by supporting the team here in the States or joining us in Liberia. We plan to hold a series of Summits in Liberia, beginning in fall 2010 when we will welcome delegates with skills in mediation, conflict resolution, reconciliation and healing to travel with us.

RSVP to Susan Partnow at 206.783.8561 or susan@globalcitizenjourney.org if you plan to attend this presentation or want to learn more.

March 17, 2010/by Susan Partnow

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell”

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the extraordinary story of a small band of Liberian women who came together in the midst of a bloody civil war, took on the violent warlords and corrupt Charles Taylor regime, and won a long-awaited peace for their shattered country in 2003.

As the rebel noose tightened upon Monrovia, and peace talks faced collapse, the women of Liberia – Christian and Muslims united – formed a thin but unshakable white line between the opposing forces, and successfully demanded an end to the fighting– armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions.

In one remarkable scene, the women barricaded the site of stalled peace talks in Ghana, and announced they would not move until a deal was done. Faced with eviction, they invoked the most powerful weapon in their arsenal – threatening to remove their clothes. It worked.

The women of Liberia are living proof that moral courage and non-violent resistance can succeed, even where the best efforts of traditional diplomacy have failed.

Their demonstrations culminated in the exile of Charles Taylor and the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, and marked the vanguard of a new wave of women taking control of their political destiny around the world.

This remarkable chapter of world history was on its way to being lost forever. The Liberian war and peace movement were largely ignored as the international press focused on Iraq. Moreover, the women’s own modesty helped obscure this great accomplishment.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell reconstructs the moment through interviews, archival footage and striking images of contemporary Liberia. It is compelling testimony to the potential of women worldwide to alter the history of nations.

The story of the Liberian women who joined together to demand peace for their shattered country was very nearly forgotten in favor of the history written by Liberia’s warlords. In 2006 Abigail Disney traveled to Liberia [with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government] in the hopes of offering whatever support she could to the first woman elected head of state in Africa, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. While she was in Liberia she heard a snippet of the story from a woman in conversation. The woman referred to it in passing, assuming that Abigail already knew about it. It sounded like something significant, but the moment passed so quickly Abigail wasn’t sure she had heard her right. Later, it happened again with another woman. And again. And again…Abigail returned to New York haunted by the story. She told the story to director Gini Reticker and they wondered whether it would make a good film. Then they met Leymah Gbowee who was so magnetic and compelling, the two women knew at once that the film must be made.

September 7, 2009/1 Comment/by Susan Partnow

About Liberia

Map of Liberia

Liberia is a country on the western African coast whose capital is Monrovia. Sierra Leone lies on the northwest border, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest, and Cote d’Ivoire to the east of this 43,000 sq. mi. land. The land itself is primarily flat, with plains along the coast and small mountains further inland. Liberia has a tropical climate: in the winter there is little rain and temperatures range greatly over the course of a 24-hour day, whereas the summer is monsoon season.

Roughly 3,440,000 people live in Liberia. The median age of the population is only 18 years, and a Liberian is expected to live only about 42 years. Yet more disturbing is the fact that the country has the sixth highest mortality rate in the world (approximately 21 deaths per 1,000 people), and the world’s fourth highest infant mortality rate (approximately 139 deaths for every 1,000 live births). All members of the population are at very high risk for contracting major infectious diseases.

Liberian Flag

The history of Liberia is inextricably tied to that of the United States: “Liberia was purchased in 1822 by the American Colonization Society (ACS) as a destination for American freed slaves and was the closest the United States ever came to taking a colony in Africa” (Blue Clay People, 4). Those former slaves who emigrated to this new land have become known as Americo-Liberians, as distinct from an existing population of native peoples belonging to 16 different ethnic groups (Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende). In 1847, these new settlers formed a republic that in many ways paralleled the aristocratic slave culture from which they emigrated in the US. “Under the black colonial aristocracy that emerged, 99 percent of the population of indigenous Africans…were disenfranchised and forced to labor on Americo plantations” (BCP, 21).

Despite the fact that it is a relatively young country, Liberia has experienced a succession of momentous epochs that have at times threatened or destroyed its stability as a republic as well as the continuation of the peaceful coexistence of its diverse array of ethnic groups. In brief, Liberia’s history proceeds as follows:

1944-1971: The Era of Americo Presidents: During this time an aristocratic relationship was forged between the native peoples and the Americo-Liberian settlers. A major priority for the Liberian presidents in this era was to encourage foreign investment in Liberia.

1980-1989: The Era of Samuel Doe and His Legacy: Samuel Doe led a coup against the existing government. An authoritarian regime that ruled for nearly emerged in the wake of the destruction of the republic.

1989-2003: The Era of Charles Taylor and the Liberian Civil War: Charles Taylor, who had been trained in Libyan terrorist camps, and others rebelled against the authoritarian regime, thereby ushering in a period of civil war. Samuel Doe was killed in the height of the unrest, and “[w]hile the war officially ended with the 1997 elections (which Taylor won by a landslide, campaigning under the promise that if not elected, he would restart the war), Taylor continued to sponsor Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels” (BCP, 12). By 2000 Liberia was once again in the grip of civil war.

2003- : Beyond Civil War and Towards Civil Reconstruction?: The historical tide turned once again for Liberia in 2003, with the signing of a peace treaty that signified the end of the civil war. This document also removed Charles Taylor from his position of power within the country. After a period of transitional government, the current Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was elected in 2005.

The cessation of civil war and the election of a new president surely serve as signs that progress towards peace in Liberia has been made. Nevertheless, major issues remain unresolved, for “although civil unrest continues to abate with the assistance of 18,00 UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeepers, as of January 2007, Liberian refugees still remain in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Ghana” (CIA World Factbook). In addition, the sixteen indigenous ethnic groups in the land continue to coexist uneasily at best; tensions, resentment, and the desire for revenge loom as a constant threat amongst these people who were used as political pawns over the course of Liberia’s history. Mediators without Borders explains that “[t]wenty-three years of active fighting – with families scattering or turning on each other, and constantly shifting factions exacting revenge through torture, pillaging, and coercing innocents into committing atrocities – damaged hundreds of thousands of Liberians and destroyed the systems that could support their recovery. An entire generation has lived solely in survival mode, with little or no knowledge of family, community, self-support, rule of law, or education” (Trauma Healing Concept Paper).

In the years since the end of the Liberian civil war, some promising efforts have been made towards healing and reconciling the lives of individual Liberians. One NGO, Mediators Beyond Borders, “works with a myriad of Liberian organizations and civil society and traditional leaders to contribute to building a stable peace, so that the vast suffering inflicted neighbor-on-neighbor will never be repeated. Mediators Beyond Borders’ experience in the sub-region began with rehabilitating former child soldiers in a refugee camp, a project that has successfully repatriated the young men and women and is seeing them through safe reintegration into community” (Trauma Healing Concept Paper). Now MBB hopes to provide similar rehabilitation services for many communities in Liberia, benefitting the many different sorts of people who were victimized by the years of war in their country. They also intend to offer conflict resolution training and country-wide trauma healing interventions. MBB will also work with Liberian women, encouraging them to achieve a higher social and economic standing within their communities.

Another NGO, Population Caring Organization, takes a more holistic approach, recognizing that “still much more is needed to consolidate the effort at the community and tribal level, in order to build a sustainable and lasting peace” (Project Liberia – Peace and Conflict Resolution). PCO aims toward the four-fold target of conflict prevention, containment, transformation, and termination by striving to understand and focus its efforts on the various ways in which groups of Liberians can come at odds with each other. Beginning in May 2003, PCO’s objectives have manifest themselves through work with the Buduburam refugee camp, where they have actively promoted discussion about war prevention and the furtherance of peacemaking activities. Through various means, they have worked with children, adults, and tribal leaders. The aim at present is to continue and expand PCO’s efforts in Liberia.

Global Citizen Journey is developing a 2010 delegation to Liberia that will work in conjunction with Emmanuel Dolo’s Population Caring Organization. To learn more about GCJ’s upcoming project and host, please click here.

August 28, 2009/by Jessie

Project and Host

What is the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative?

Global Citizen Journey (GCJ) is partnering with Population Caring Organization (PCO) and other local organizations in Liberia to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative (LPI). We convened a series of trainings where for Peacebuilders to engage in learning, network, sharing of stories and envisioning a future that works for all Liberians. In our ‘pre-trip’ visit in January, 2010, we began building a network of support. With the help of a number of NGOs we will select key participants who have had previous training and experience in facilitation, conflict resolution and mediation so they can more readily integrate what we offer. We seek participants who are involved with existing networks to leverage the learning and spread the experience more widely. Plus the participants need to have deep roots in their local community, to build this network from the grassroots. This approach develops what leading Peacebuilder John Paul Lederach refers to as a “middle-range approach to peacebuilding” — working with a set of leaders who can provide the key to creating an infrastructure for sustaining peace.

We will carefully constitute these teams to insure they reflect the diversity of Liberia: 16 ethnic groups, men and women, range of ages, religious affiliations, location, rural and urban, former combatants, and former refugees. We will incorporate traditional practices to promote healing and reconciliation. There will be Post Summit follow-up and support so trained Peacebuilder Teams can bring what they have learned to their communities.

Why launch the Liberian Peacebuilder Initiative?

Years of brutal civil conflict have left Liberia with a traumatized population and a devastated infrastructure. Although peace has been secured at a governmental level, conflicts and tensions at the community level and the trauma and wounds from the years of violence still threaten to disrupt the fragile post-conflict situation. There is a tremendous need for community based leaders to build inter-ethnic trust, to learn the skills of non-violent conflict resolution, reconciliation and collaborative networking – the foundations for democracy, development and a sustainable peace. Experts acknowledge that peace must be built at the grassroots level as well as at the higher, official levels of treaties and agreements; the tendency to leap ahead with economic development without a concomitant focus on individuals and local conditions often results in a reversion to violence. It is fair to say that there are few Liberians whose lives were unaffected by the civil conflict: therefore any conflict resolution training must include processes that allow for the clearing of pain and emotionality created by the trauma. (read more)

What will happen at the Summits?

Day 1 and 2: Workshops and training in Compassionate Listening* and conflict resolution*, sharing and building on traditional practices, hearing each other’s stories*

Day 3: Training in Restorative Circles* that are intended to repair the relationships damaged by conflict and allow for reconciliation

Day 4: Town Meeting sessions using large group dialogue processes (World Café* and Open Space Technology*) for sharing perspectives around such questions as: “How do we honor our traditions while reaching beyond them for a Liberia that works for all?”; “What do we need to reach true reconciliation and healing?” “What are the challenges and opportunities to create the future we want for our children?” “What are simple actions for economic development and self-sufficiency (e.g. growing gardens and selling produce, or a simple business like selling baked goods)?”

Day 5: Action plans and commitments for working in home communities. Closing ceremonies and rituals*

Cultural and Evening Activities*: Traditional cultural sharing at the opening, closing ceremony and nightly with music, storytelling, dancing, and other activities that have traditionally brought people together.

Post-Summit Activities: Each Peacebuilder Team (traditional, youth and woman leader from the various ethnic groups) will implement an action plan for creating small community meetings* and Town Meetings in their home community.

Small Community Meetings:

Report on the Summit
Offer training, practices and exercises in Compassionate Listening and conflict resolution.
Show the videotaped stories from the Restorative Justice Circle in those communities having access to electricity.
Facilitate discussions, and gather and record comments, inputs and suggestions from all participants. (Note: these comments will be in reports and shared at the next Summit, once it is funded.)
Establish agreements for continuing to meet within the local community.

Town Hall Meetings: The Peacebuilder Team will be encouraged to convene a Town Hall in their community to discuss local concerns

(click here for details on *starred items of what happens at the Summits)

Host: Population Caring Organization

The Liberian Peacebuilder Initiative is being launched by GCJ in partnership with Population Caring Organization, founded by Emmanuel Dolo, at the Budumbura Refugee Camp for Liberians in Ghana, just outside of Accra. From 2003 to 2008, PCO established community Peace Cells (dialogue circle gatherings) in the refugee camp reaching hundreds of community members and helping to resolve the many cases of conflict that arise in an overcrowded and traumatized population. These discussion groups focused on domestic violence; community conflict; national and ethnic violence; misunderstandings and hatred; and how to build capacity for reconciliation – including strategies for ex-combatants and child soldiers. In December 2005, PCO brought together elders and traditional leaders from the 16 ethnic groups in a reconciliation ceremony that marked 15 months of intense peace-building dialogue in the Liberian Tribal Leaders’ Reconciliation Forum (LTLRF). They are eager to integrate these practices and many of their re-patriated colleagues and elders back in Liberia. Emmanuel believes it is essential for outsiders to come and work with him and others to build true peace –at the grassroots level, i.e. from the bottom up rather than governmental declarations. The peace is fragile because Liberia does not have its own security force – and thus depends upon the UN. It is difficult to develop its own security force when there is so little trust among the various ethnic groups.

Read the latest update from PCO – December 2009 through May 2010 report.

August 28, 2009/by Susan Partnow

Transpartisan USA

BuildingBridges Across the Partisan Divide

Global Citizen Journey is working with Transpartisan Alliance-Seattle to discover ways to build a civil bridge across the huge gap between us –left and right, progressive and conservative. By coming together in an ongoing way, with monthly Salons, participants gain a better understanding of each other’s thinking, perceptions, and perspectives. We are seeking areas of common interest and identifying ways in which we can act together as a Citizen’s Assembly.

**A valuable resource:Watch an enlightening video that gives insight into the fundamental values of left and right: Ted Talk: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives

**Dialogue Across Ideological Dividesby DeAnna Martin & Susan Partnow

Do you wonder why dialogues seem to narrowly attract “progressives” and especially of a certain age, white, and middle class? At the 2008 National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation, DeAnna Martin and Susan Partnow attended a panel of speakers who consider themselves “conservatives” to help us understand. Here are some of the things we heard and lessons learned: they yield much to ponder for endeavors to bridge our many divides

First, there are concerns and fears that tend to turn conservatives off to dialogue. These fears create barriers to showing up if conservatives feel they have to:

Give up the Truth… If dialogue assumes all truths are relative, it is an unwelcome environment for someone who has fundamentalist convictions about right and wrong.

Be coerced towards some hidden agenda… Questions come up about what the ultimate goal of dialogue really is: to convince me of something? To get me involved in some sort of larger social change? Is there really an authentic space for conservative views?

Be changed… perhaps this is connected to a hidden agenda to convince me that my views are wrong?

One way that individuals in the evangelical community have found their way through these fears is by engaging in what they call, “Convicted civility.” Individuals engage in dialogue, sharing candidly about where they are convicted, from their place of The Truth, while the other seeks to understand – ‘living the friendship, not the argument.’ (Learn more: Greg Johnson, professing Christian, and Robert L. Millet, lifelong Mormon, co-authored Bridging The Divide: The Continuing Conversation Between A Mormon And An Evangelical, c. 2007)

We learned that conservatives may be turned off by how the dialogue is framed. Particular triggers for conservatives are words like:

· “sustainability” – is there some intent to coerce me to become an environmentalist?
“global warming” – versus a more conservative framing “energy security”
“community organizing” – is code for someone telling me what to do, I don’t need to be organized
“consciousness” – should only be used in a boxing match to assess is he conscious or not…
“progressive” – implies you’re more evolved than me, I’m stupid
“grassroots” – must mean a Trojan horse end-run around the system
“civic engagement” – must be some kind of agenda you want everyone to get involved in

Second, there are certain values that shed light on what conservatives find important. By looking at these we can understand better how to appeal across divides to bring people together. Some of the values expressed by panelists were:

Self-Governance – I am responsible for myself, my family and my community all within a democratic republic
Personal Responsibility – when dialogues emphasize government as the only answer, rather than each of us making up our own minds about how we can take care of ourselves, our families, and our neighbors
Voluntary Cooperation – coercion of any kind, whether that be an expectation to come up with something we all agree to or a hidden agenda to convert, is the antithesis of this

So let’s consider these insights as they relate to how we approach our many dialogue efforts.

Frame & Identify Issues We Have in Common

Dialogue can be framed as a desire to understand and know each other and must include all aspects of the self, including religious values. We must find nonpartisan issues we all care about, such as transparency, integrity, and accountability. These issues might stem from where there is a felt need to link political will with deliberation, then be careful about how decision makers are involved in the cycles of discussion and be transparent about everyone’s commitment and role in the process.

Be Careful about Liberal Blind Spots

Taking our cue from the trigger words shared previously, we must find language that doesn’t assume we intend to evolve people to a particular end, organize them, or that limits our scope for what and who is ultimately responsible. Cultivate humility… Be willing to let go of our own agendas and accept that we have more to learn and understand.

Define Dialogue as Part of Broader Civic Engagement

Respect that each of us is self-governing and we are self-governing together… Be open to seeing the free market as civic engagement, i.e. in a free market businesses are figuring out what people want and providing it. Dialogue in our civic engagement is about integrating the values of the republic with the needs of the republic.

Emphasize Non-Coercive Outcomes

Dialogue as an end in itself, not about reaching some pre-determined outcome. Just the talking is valuable without the pressure to generate some kind of agreement or shared outcome. Sell the mapping of the issues, rather than an outcome… deeper understanding, empathy, and connection to what this issue looks like from many perspectives. So the outcome is discovery. Mutual respect and appreciation – humanization. Self understanding to be more personally responsible. Emphasize that it’s not about seeking change.

Demonstrate Value in Terms of Enhancing Social Capital

Dialogue creates opportunities for connections where none existed before, which builds the health and vitality of a community – essential to safety and security. Express how conversations with others gives life to the expression, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Listening to our Conservative speakers and panelists was stimulating, mind opening and humbling. We hope sharing these thoughts with you will serve us all in broadening our conversations to include more diversity of thought, which will ultimately serve us all in moving forward in this complex world.

DeAnna J Martin

Executive Director | Center for Wise Democracy | 206-459-8429 | deanna@wisedemocracy.org | www.WiseDemocracy.org

Senior Associate | Jim Rough & Associates, Inc. | 206-965-8498 | deanna@dynamicfacilitation.com | www.DynamicFacilitation.com

Susan Partnow

Co-Founder, Conversation Week www.conversationcafe.org

Founding Director, Global Citizen Journey www.globalcitizenjourney.org

Sr. Facilitator, Compassionate Listening, www.compassionatelistening.org

August 16, 2009/1 Comment/by Susan Partnow

Sidebar News Posts

Oporoza attacked, library still standing

As you may have heard, Oporoza (the site of our Nigeria Journey) has been under attack. As far as we know the library is still standing. For more information and updates, follow these links to articles and interviews with Mary Ella Kebulsek and Joel Bisina. Look for mp3 files to hear the interviews. These websites are also following the events in the Niger Delta closely: www.stakeholderdemocracy.org and www.sweetcrudemovie.com.

Earthbeat Radio: The True Cost of Oil

Voice of America News: Yar’Adua, Militants Trade Feelers for Niger Delta Amnesty

Voice of America News: Mounting Niger Delta Tensions Fuel Calls for Ceasefire

June 19, 2009/by Jessie

Sidebar News Posts

Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative

Learn about our latest initiative: peace making in Liberia

June 17, 2009/1 Comment/by Susan Partnow

Liberia 2011

Project and Host

GCJ partnered with a Liberian NGO to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative (LPI) with a mission to build a community-based network to foster conflict resolution, reconciliation, and sustainable peace. We formed Peacebuilder Teams from communities in the NE Counties that included elders, women and youth. They came together to share and learn skills (traditional practices, Compassionate Listening, Restorative Justice, large group dialogue), exchange experiences, and co-create a peaceful future for all Liberians. Peacebuilders share the tools learned in their home communities, then returned to deepen their relationships and share their learnings with the other teams in a second series of trainings. Teams represent Liberia’s diversity to build understanding and trust across deep divides of age, ethnicity, class and gender. Read more about project and host here.

About Liberia

Civil war has left Liberia traumatized and devastated. Conflict easily erupts at fault lines such as weakened respect for elders, ethnic tensions, and integration of refugees and ex-combatants. There is a tremendous need for local leaders to experience and learn skills for inter-group trust, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliation and collaborative networking – the foundations of democracy, development, and a sustainable peace. LPI builds capacity to manage tensions at the grassroots, beyond Monrovia, and takes a powerful step towards creating a healthy Liberian national identity. The need was urgent in the face of imminent Presidential elections and drawdown of UN forces. Read more about Liberia here.

LPI – Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative

GCJ was the grateful recipient of a matching grant from the now defunct Foundation for Global Communtiy as well as the estate of a longtime friend and supporter, Marilyn Saunders. Through the generosity of our supporters (THANK YOU ONE AND ALL), we were able to launch a scaled-down version of the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative in Spring, 2011, with $20,500. We based our efforts in Monrovia and developed a core group of 35 diverse Peacebuilders.

Our partner organization, Population Caring Organization (PCO), helped us build powerful relationships with local groups. They worked on additional monthly events to expand the reach of the Peacebuilder Initiative. Click here to read PCO’s full report.

Volunteer Orientation: email us for information

October 28, 2008/1 Comment/by Susan Partnow

April 2008

News from Global Citizen Journey

Issue: 12

April, 2008

Dear Susan,

After
careful consideration, we’ve decided to postpone our Burundi Journey to
next summer. With growing excitement we can see that this decision will
give us the
time we need to “get it right,” especially concerning the water
project which needs much deeper study. By taking a step back from
the pressure of deadlines and fundraising limitations, we’ll have a
chance to better understand what it is that the neighborhood of
Carama needs from us, and we’ll be more fully able to provide it.

We are exploring a pre-journey scouting trip with several
delegates this summer, from the designated Water Team
(see below) and a Town Hall Team, to investigate and lay the
proper groundwork for an extraordinary journey in 2009.

This is good news for us, but do you
know the best news? If you’ve been interested in going to Burundi
but didn’t feel as though you had enough time for fundraising and
preparation, you have another chance to join the 2009 delegation!

To find out more, please don’t
hesitate to contact us via email or phone, and feel free to join us
at the next orientation session on Monday, May 12th, from 5:15 to 7:00.
We’d love to see you there!

Peace,

Global Citizen Journey

Sweet Crude Team Returns to the U.S.

We are thankful to report that the four American Sweet Crude
filmmakers have been safely returned to the U.S. after being detained
by the Nigerian military while traveling in the Niger Delta. Joel
Bisina, founder of GCJ partner Niger Delta Professionals for
Development, has returned to his home in Warri, and should be coming to
the U.S. in early May.

Director Sandy Cioffi, producer
Tammi Sims and photojournalists Sean Porter and Cliff Worsham were in Nigeria
to finish the documentary Sweet Crude, about the effects of oil production on
the people and environment of the Niger Delta.

Thank
you to everyone who helped secure their release by spreading the word,
and to the U.S. lawmakers who worked for mutual understanding with the
Nigerian government.

Quick Hits:

GCJ in the News! Word about Global
Citizen Journey’s work is spreading! Check out what the Bellingham Herald and
the Ballard News-Tribune
have to say.

AGRA Watch: Global
Citizen Journey is helping to gather a number of individuals and organizations
around shared concerns regarding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA)-the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation
initiative now chaired by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Given our commitment to being fully engaged citizens and the presence of this
major Foundation in our backyard, we feel called to pay close attention to what
is happening from the perspective of what will serve our brothers and sisters
in Africa and our planet. GCJ seeks to spur integration of the learning from
the failures of the first so called Green Revolution – now reflected in the
tragic suicides of farmers in India and the industrialization of food
production in the US. Our first objective is education of ourselves and the
public around AGRA. We will seek ways to engage in dialogue with the
Gates Foundation to exchange visions and concerns as well as to call for them
to be transparent and accountable to the public –including in Africa– around
their policies, alliances, and priorities. We will seek direction from African
small farmers regarding AGRA . Also, we aim to utilize this issue as a
opportunity to network with all Puget Sound area groups dealing with Africa and
international concerns, especially around agriculture and food security.

You are welcomed to join this group: sign up for the
agraconcern list at https//:lists.riseup.net and you will receive notification
of meetings and additional resources to read.

We have posted a number of key resources and background
reading around this issue on our website.

Update on Carama Water Project

Water Team reports their findings

In preparation for our Burundi journey,
a dedicated Water Team has been created for the purpose of
investigating great options for bringing water to Carama, and to
gather, sort and process the huge amount of information on the
subjec The people of Carama t.
Last week Brock, Wes, Deborah and Prosper consulted with
Llyn, a hydrologist who works with Engineers Without Borders.
They determined that a complete water
and sanitation plan is something that the village needs and GCJ would
like to make that an explicit goal of our journey. Prosper will
work with the Carama village to establish a Water & Sanitation
Team when gets back later month, and together we will identify a
series of phases for this larger project and identify the first high
priority components that we can focus on within the resources we can
raise. Several of our US Water Team members hope to go to
Carama this summer to investigate and coordinate more fully so that we
can be ready with a clear plan of action and wise priorities for summer
’09.

With
another full year to study the project, we are committed to doing our
research. We have learned that the water table in the area is
very high, which has helped us focus on a few different solutions, such
as digging a well (with the high water table, manual digging may be
sufficient) or pulling and filtering water from a nearby river.
We are preparing a comparison of solar, diesel, manual and filtering
approaches with a goal to include all start-up costs and maintenance
costs, as well as making sure that the project is as green as possible.

If you have any interest or expertise in this area, please
consider lending us a hand! Contact Brock Blatter,
brockb@amaazi.org, for more information.

Connecting Young People Across the Globe

Marysville 3rd graders connect with Oporoza students

An update from Ryan Hauck, a former GCJ
delegate to the An Oporoza Classroom Niger Delta in 2005 who has not only maintained the
connection he made, but who has also paved the way for his students
to connect.

Ryan’s work has helped to establish a
new connection between Quil Ceda (Marysville) elementary school and
the primary school in Oporoza, Nigeria. A 3^rd grade class
at the elementary school wrote letters to 23 primary students in
Oporoza after Ryan went into the class and showed slides, discussing
life in Oporoza, and teaching the receptive students some Ijaw
language and a popular Nigerian song.

Ryan then traveled for the fifth time
back to Nigeria this past November, laden with the unbelievable
amount of clothing, books, school supplies, toiletries, medical
supplies, PE equipment, toys, etc., that were donated by the parents
of the 3^rd grade class. Once in Oporoza, he spent a great
deal of time in the primary school, teaching a lesson and helping the
students to respond individually to each of the letter written from
the Quil Ceda 3^rd graders. (The Quil Ceda 3^rd
graders have since responded, and their letters were taken back to
Oporoza by Joel Bisina)

Meanwhile, th kids e high school students at
Marysville-Pilchuck High School are continuing to establish their
“sister-school” relationship with students in the Secondary
School in Oporoza. Currently they are in the process of raising
funds to support the purchase of novels, poetry, and non-fiction
books that are part of the Nigerian curriculum, but are not available
to the students there.

Now that there is a working internet system in
Oporoza, students at MPHS are looking forward to more regular
communication and building on the relationship they have been
cultivating. There is a possibility of using a joint curriculum from
the Giraffe Project, which is centered around service learning and
empowers students to learn from authentic voices who have been a
catalyst for change. This curriculum hopes to give students the
background and skills to be actively engaged in the local and global
communities to initiate positive change.

Ghana Update

Fourth return to Axim for GCJ Ghana Project Director

GCJ
Ghana Project Director Maryanne and Rich Ward made their 4th return to
Axim this Spring. This time, they were able to live and eat in the
Western Heritage Home we partnered in building, now filled with 21
lively (p Our children standing in front of the Western Heritage Home

Our children standing in front of the Western Heritage Home

arentless)
children. Maryanne & Rich brought 14 computers, 35 chess
sets, and lots of books and puzzles in their luggage, which captivate
the children thoroughly – perfect for this rainy season. Western
Heritage Home is flourishing and the computer center is taking
shape. Other spin-off projects such as the Veronica buckets and
water sanitation plans are also making progress. Many of our Ghanaian
GCJ delegates from 2006 are now very involved in the home, and
spearheading work on other related projects in Axim. There is a
great sense of Ghanaians and North Americans trusting each other and
working together, with a deep sense of empowerment and inspiration

From
Maryanne’s journal: “Perhaps this is the time to describe the
children. What we see we consider no less than remarkable.
The staff have done an incredible job. They work together on the
daily basics – food, clothing, health, sleep, affection. The
children are generally calm, clean, and affectionate and considerate
with each other.”

Western Heritage Home Plaque
home from school together. The children got quite excited when
theyMaryanne’s heart was filled with joy one day when they were walking
could see the roof. “We’re almost home,” they shouted. What a
joyous manifestion of GCJ’s mission and the hard work of all our GCJ
community and delegates! (Check out the GCJ Ghana blog for continued updates).

Top photo: The orphans pose in front of the newly completed Western Heritage Home building.

Bottom photo: A plaque at the Western Heritage Home honoring the GCJ Ghana Journey delegates.

In This Issue

Sweet Crude team returns to the U.S.

GCJ Quick Hits

Update on Carama Water Project

Oporoza Sister Schools

Quick Links

Join us in Burundi in Summer 2009.

Find out more.

Upcoming Events

Want to get to know GCJ? Join us on Monday May 12th from 5:15-7 for an informal conversation and video presentation. (email for more directions).

Check out our website for
an updated list of events!

Picnic in the Park!

Join
us this summer for a picnic in the park. The date is still
uncertain, but we’re currently choosing between two Saturdays: July 12th or the 19th,
GCJ delegates, volunteers, alumni and friends are all welcome to a day
of food, fun, dancing, games and storytelling (location TBA).
Mark it on your calendar, and stay tuned for more details!

Do You Have A Story To Share?

We’re
in the process of collecting delegate stories to add to our website,
and to use in order to help future delegates prepare for a
Journey. Are you a former delegate with a story to shore?
Let us know!