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      • India Blog 5: From charming Fort Cochin into the paradise of the backwaters of Kerala
      • India Blog 6: Ashram of Amma, a living saint… to Trivindrum
      • India Blog 7: Schools & Women’s empowerment centers with heart and soul
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      • India Blog 9: Holy Cities on the Ganges: Hardiwar & Rishikesh
      • India Blog 10: The Pink City of Jaipur and Ranthambhore National Park
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      • India Blog 12: Holiest of Holies – Varanesi
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Why launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative?

Why launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative?

In December 1989, Liberia plunged into a brutal civil war, which resulted in the deaths of over 250,000 people. The war divided families, tribes, friends; devastated infrastructure; and threatened to destroy Liberian culture, traditions, beliefs and norms. Fortunately, a peace agreement was signed and elections were held, bringing Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the Presidency.  Although much of the Liberian population accepts the need for and welcomes the prospect of reconciliation between the tribes and the divided people of Liberia, there is little actual understanding of the mechanisms and complexities of reconciliation and peace. Many Liberians speak of reconciliation in vague terms such as the need to love, respect and forgive each other, without being able to actualize these concepts in relation to members of other tribes or opposing groups.

Enhancing the capacity of local, grassroots leaders to promote dispute resolution and reconciliation is critical for the Liberian people in order to heal the past, facilitate forgiveness, and bring the diverse constituents together. Although valuable support from the global community has been extended, much greater effort is needed to consolidate the effort at the community and ethnic level, build a sustainable peace, and empower Liberians themselves to preserve this peace into the future. Strategies for reconciliation and the healing of relationships that are culturally appropriate to the Liberian context must be developed, taught and widely promoted throughout the rural counties. Developing the skills of local leaders will increase the likelihood that community conflicts will be resolved nonviolently in the future.  It is important to work toward the cultivation of grassroots skills in conflict prevention, containment, and transformation. There are no greater threats to democracy than war and the tensions and conflicts that permeate a fragile post-conflict situation. The goal of this initiative is to promote the basic skills required for democracy – the ability to express and listen to different perspectives, the respect for cultural differences, and the willingness to work for the common good, and to work at the grassroots level in the communities – as well as the capacity for individual healing.

GCJ brings the expertise of US specialists together with the guidance of our local partners, as the experts on their own traditions and culture.  This effort, we believe, will sow the seeds for a successful, long-term grassroots peace movement and the realization of a sustainable, uniquely Liberian democracy.

  • 2017 Delegation to Maher in Maharashtra, India
  • GCJ Kashmir, India 2018
  • GCJ Uganda – 2020
  • Liberia 2011
    • Liberia Blog
    • Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative
    • Project and Host
      • Details of LPI Summit Activities
      • GCJ’s Initial Trip to Liberia
      • Why launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative?
    • Special program on Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative
    • About Liberia
    • “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”
  • Personal Journeys
  • Burundi Partners
    • Burundi 2008
    • Burundi Blog
  • Nigeria 2005
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    • Nigeria Trip Report
    • About Nigeria
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  • Ghana 2006
    • Beyond Axim: follow up projects in Ghana
    • Ghana Together Blog
    • Project and Host
    • Ghana Journey Report
      • A Perspective on Ghana
    • About Ghana
    • Follow-up Projects
      • Western Heritage Home/GCJ Ghana Alum Wishlist
    • Ghana Donors
  • Future Journeys

RSS Delegate Dennis Gaither’s GCJ Kashmir 2018 Updates!

  • An Afternoon with Action India September 29, 2018
    Dear Friends, It has been an interesting and fruitful time here in Delhi.  And we are eagerly anticipating our travel soon to Kashmir, where we will be meeting the 13 Kashmiri delegates with whom we will be living and working.  That really is the heart of this project. While in Delhi we have been meeting […]
    Dennis Gaither
  • Arriving in Delhi September 26, 2018
    Dear Friends, At last we have arrived in Delhi!  Our delegate group from the US is forming, with two more coming tonight and another coming on Monday.  And we are anxious to meet with our Kasmiri delegates with whom we will be living and working when we travel to Srinagar next Monday. This Monday morning […]
    Dennis Gaither
  • Reflections on a Slave Fort – A Healing Across Time September 6, 2018
    Dear Friends, As our departure time approaches and we will soon be meeting our friends in Kashmir as part of the Global Citizen Journey Kashmir project, I am reflecting on past travels and the powerful experiences they evoked.  One of those would have to be a visit to a 17th – 18th century slave fort […]
    Dennis Gaither
  • Global Citizen Journey Kashmir Project August 23, 2018
    I am feeling both thrilled and challenged to be travelling to Kashmir, India this October as a delegate with the Global Citizen Journey Kashmir 2018 project. This will be my third such project, the first two being a library building project in the remote Niger Delta of Nigeria and a year later an orphanage project […]
    admin

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