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CSOP Participant Profile – Alain Tshinza

By Aaron Epp

Hip-hop artist, youth worker sharpens his skills at the CSOP

Hip-hop musician, graphic designer, filmmaker, youth worker – Alain Tshinza is involved in a lot of different things. It’s these endeavours that brought him to the 2016 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP).

“Part of the reason I decided to take a class here is to be more relevant in the way I communicate,” the 40-year-old said.

Tshinza took the course Reconciling Our Future: Stories of Kanata and Canada with instructor Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair.

He took the class partly because he’s a newcomer to Canada – he moved to Winnipeg two years ago – but also because the story of Canada’s indigenous peoples resonates with Tshinza’s own background. He grew up in Luxembourg, the son of Congolese immigrants.

“When I see the struggles of indigenous people (in Canada) it reminds me of the story of indigenous people in the Congo or any other country in Africa,” Tshinza said.

“For me, understanding different perspectives is very important,” he added, noting that what he learned about Canada’s history at the CSOP will help him in his work. “I want to contribute to empowering people through my music and my art, and I would like to travel across Canada (including to) northern reserves. I would like to make my music and my art more relevant in a social context in terms of building up people.”

Tshinza currently works as the executive director at Freeze Frame, Manitoba’s Media Arts Centre for Young People.

The centre is a not-for-profit and charitable organization, offering workshops and programs throughout the year, and organizes the International Film Festival for Kids of All Ages each spring.

Prior to moving to Winnipeg, Tshinza earned a Master’s degree in visual arts, and worked as a graphic designer for 12 years.

He also directed a handful of documentaries, including a feature length film about hip-hop culture in Luxembourg called Hamilius.

One of Tshinza’s passions is mentoring young artists.

“I see myself equipping them through workshops to write their own songs, to shoot their own film, to design their own story,” he says.

Studying at the CSOP was a step toward that goal.

“You receive a lot of practical, historical, (and) spiritual information (at the CSOP),” Tshinza said. “What I love is the fellowship that you can have with so many people. I’ve been in touch with a (Canadian) missionary who lives in the Philippines, someone from Sudan… I consider it a privilege.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Erin Yantzi

By Beth Downey Sawatzky

Lessons in Responsibility

Sometimes, when you discover a good thing, one taste is just not enough. For Erin Yantzi, a third-year student at the University of Waterloo, transferable degree credit from a CSOP intensive was just too good not to come back for seconds.

The double Anthropology and Peace Studies major attended CSOP for the first time in 2013, when she took a course on Palestine that “really opened [her] eyes.” As a result she later interned for two months with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron, Palestine, during the winter of 2015. She says that experience helped her see more clearly “where Christian conviction intersects with society and the individual” and propelled her to further formal study of peacemaking in action. “It made me want to better understand the complexities of various issues around the world and how we as peacemakers can equip ourselves, thoroughly and effectively for those unique issues,” she says.

This year, Yantzi enrolled in “Peace Skills Practice,” an applied peace-building course taught by Natasha Mohammed. She says that the top-notch instructors were one of the foremost reasons she returned to the School of Peacebuilding for a second season: “They really know their stuff and they're practitioners in the field so they can show us what the theories they're introducing actually look like in action. I was also drawn by the opportunity to meet so many different people here, who have all gathered over this common interest that they're very open about.”

Asked what her key take-aways from the course have been, Yantzi says it all comes down to a belief in human responsibility, or as she's come to understand it, “response-ability.”

“One thing I really liked was when Natasha said 'Conflict is not good or bad; it is either productive or destructive depending on how you respond to it.' We often think conflict is out of our control or out of human hands, but in reality humans create it, so humans can solve it—at least when the conflict is amongst humans, as opposed to conflicts with the natural world, like earthquakes, etc. We can choose to respond, and we can choose how to respond. Conflict starts to appear out of our control primarily when we stop thinking about the humans behind it. We don't like to think we have this much control because it's a lot of pressure, a lot of responsibility—but note the root word. 'Response.' Maybe we don't like our instinctive responses to conflict; we wish we didn't have to respond, that we could just hide from the problem or ignore it, but when we own up to the challenge and take responsibility for our power, hope opens up.”

Hope is a key word for Yantzi, as she considers how she would recommend CSOP. She feels the school proposes “more hopeful, trusting ways” of dealing with conflict than are common in everyday public discourse. “Take pacifism, for one example,” she offers, intimating that this conflict transformation tool is not often taken seriously outside of anabaptist circles. “I think I would recommend CSOP generally to people who have a lot of questions about themselves and how the world works, but beyond that, to people who want to be able to practice peace in daily life, who want to see peace grow in our world; especially anybody who is a fan of alternative perspectives on how to make change.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Marian De Couto

By Beth Downey Sawatzky

On Staying Strong

Marian De Couto, a Toronto native, lived for several years’ time in the city's chapter of L'Arche—a mixed community of people with various disabilities, as well as people generally considered “able”—exploring what she calls “applied solidarity.” This was the same interest that ultimately drew her to Christian Peacemaker Teams [CPT], through whom she has been on assignment in Columbia since December 2015. Her term will not be up until Christmastime 2018. Between now and then, it's up to De Couto and her colleagues to find ways of keeping fit for their task, despite the job challenges.

“The work we do with CPT is difficult on all elements of a person—physical, mental, emotional—so it puts team-members in a kind of 'at-risk' position. We travel a lot, our schedules are pretty irregular, there is a lot of violence in the area generally, and the demands of carrying others' stories bring a natural risk of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, things like that. As a result, CPT really encourages extra outside education and training to strengthen team-members in their work.”

Enter intensive training through Canadian School of Peacebuilding. De Couto first heard about CSOP through a CPT colleague. “The training sounded exceptional,” she says, so she enrolled in Al Fuertes' “Psychosocial Trauma Healing” course, seeing it as a valuable professional development opportunity. She did not expect it would be as applicable inwardly, on a personal level, as it was outwardly.

“The professor was really dynamic and experienced! I think the biggest thing I learned is that talking about trauma and healing with others brings up all kinds of wounds, fears, etc., so as we enter into those spaces with others, we need to remember to take care of ourselves. For me and my colleagues in Columbia, self-care is critical to the sustainability of our efforts there. If we're going to do our jobs well, we need to recognize our task is hard!”

In fact, De Couto found her experience so valuable, she's already planning ways to share the wealth: “I just think this information is so relevant to our work, and it's really taught me a lot about what self-care could look like for us in Columbia. I hope to engage my teammates in the material, and the administration team as well. Perhaps through a workshop or something.”

She's not stopping there either. Asked who should know about Canadian School of Peacebuilding, De Couto is exuberant: “Non-Mennonites! When I come here, everybody knows Christian Peacemaker Teams because of its Mennonite roots, and that's great that our work is known, but there's so much good work being done here that other groups need to know about it. It's important! The material is rich and it's not necessary to be Mennonite or even Christian, strictly speaking, to really benefit from the training.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Bob Aloneissi

By Aaron Epp

CSOP an eye-opening experience for veteran Alberta lawyer

Bob Aloneissi sees conflict in a whole new light after attending the 2016 Canadian School of Peacebuilding.

“I was the kind of person who didn’t like conflict – I thought it meant court litigation,” he says.

Now, Aloneissi doesn’t think conflict is so bad.

“It’s not the conflict that’s bad, it’s the energy that we put into a conflict and how we perceive it that’s good or bad,” he says. “There will always be conflict. (The questions are), what values do we assign to it? What energy do we put into it? And, how do we resolve it?”

Aloneissi travelled from his home in Edmonton, AB, where he has spent the last 28 years working as a lawyer, to take the course, Peace Skills Practice with instructor Natasha Mohammed.

“I wish that I had taken the course… before becoming a lawyer, because a lot of what we do as lawyers is conflict resolution,” he said. “This is something every lawyer should learn about.”

Throughout his career, Aloneissi has been drawn to defending people who have the resources of the state stacked against them.

“When they’re facing an accusation that may or may not be true, they’re so very vulnerable in that position,” Aloneissi.

In recent years, Aloneissi has become interested in restorative justice – particularly victim-offender dialogues, where aggrieved individuals can confront the person who wronged them.

He recalls one powerful experience where a father forgave the man who had killed his son in a drunk driving-related accident.

“That’s the kind of (thing) that’s possible if people are willing to go the extra mile (rather than) just do the same old thing, which we know doesn’t work,” Aloneissi said. “This is more difficult than the usual but it’s more fulfilling. It’s healing. You get a chance to right the wrong.”

Aloneissi had never been to Winnipeg before coming for the 2016 CSOP, but he’s glad he made the trip.

“I’ve been given so much material that I could probably spend the next six months to a year digesting it all,” he says. “It’s something I hope a lot more people would take advantage of.”

In addition to the things he learned, Aloneissi is thankful for the diverse student body at the CSOP. He met people from Iran, the United States, and various countries in Africa.

He also met a young couple in his class, both of whom are lawyers.

“I admired them for taking the course together, and especially at the early part of their careers,” Aloneissi said. “It’s going to help them tremendously.”

 

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CSOP Participant Profile – Lee Kosa

By Aaron Epp

CSOP embodies ‘dialogue-based posture’ the church needs to take, B.C. pastor says

When pastor Lee Kosa was renegotiating his contract with his church’s board last year, he didn’t want more money. What he asked for instead was more time off and the opportunity to travel to Winnipeg to study at the 2016 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP).

The board said yes. Kosa is glad they did.

“(The CSOP has) exceeded my expectations tremendously,” says Kosa, who serves as the lead pastor at Cedar Park Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Delta, B.C. “I honestly can’t imagine the two weeks going any better.”

Kosa thinks a lot about where the Church is going. In his view, the evangelical church in its current form is “monologue-based and defensive in its posture toward culture.”

In order for the church to survive, “we have to move toward a more dialogue-based posture toward culture,” Kosa says. “I feel like that is embodied at the CSOP.”

During his first week at the CSOP, Kosa took Peace Skills Practice with Natasha Mohammed. The course equipped Kosa with tools and models to use the next time he faces conflict.

In his second week at the CSOP, Kosa took Arts and Peacebuilding with Rosanna “Dessa” Quesada-Palm.

It’s a fitting course for Kosa, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, and worked in the field of marketing, communications, and design before becoming a pastor.

The course is directly applicable to Kosa’s work because his church runs an arts camp for young people. The camp was established when the local public school system began cutting back its arts funding.

At the church’s arts camp, children can learn and practice a variety of different art forms, including stop-motion animation, culinary arts, and music.

“I want to see how I can integrate peacebuilding into the arts,” Kosa says. “I’ve just been affirmed (at the CSOP) that there’s so much the arts have to give.”

Kosa is passionately committed to the lifelong pursuit of becoming a peacemaker at home, in his work, and in his community.

One of the things he most appreciated about his time at the CSOP is that the courses are taught by instructors who not only have an academic background, but are also active practitioners themselves.

“Being taught by people who know the academic world and have an education, but are in the trenches doing this work and have done it for years, it's just so different,” he says. “Their voices carry a different authority and weight.”

“I'd recommend it to any pastor,” he adds. “I’m going to go back to Vancouver telling everyone I know: You’ve got to go to the CSOP.”

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Media Video

Peacebuilders’ Banquet – Dessa Quesada-Palm

Each week at the CSOP, we host a lunch banquet of great local food and storytelling by one of the week's instructors.  This is a time to gather as a community of peacebuilders, to celebrate with great food and to be inspired by the stories of peacebuilders from around the world. Take a few minutes to be renewed and inspired by this video from the CSOP banquet, June 23, 2016, with storyteller, Dessa Quesada-Palm.

 

Looking for more stories from the Canadian School of Peacebuilding?  Check out out other videos, audio stories, participant profiles or download a FREE copy of the e-book version of Voices of Harmony and Dissent: How Peacebuilders are Transforming Their Worlds, a collection of stories and essays by CSOP instructors.

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CSOP Participant Profile – Zahid Rohman

By Beth Downey Sawatzky

God has no flag

At a time when the fears and antipathies defining global politics revolve so closely around religious violence and conflict, peacebuilding that strives to unite religious groups is more relevant than ever. This year, one CSOP student in particular distinctively embodied such bridge-building passion:

Zahid Rohman is a practising Muslim. He holds a Master's degree in World Religions and Culture from the University of Dhaka in his home country of Bangladesh, and has studied intermittently at Eastern Mennonite University since 2012. This experience of Mennonites and anabaptism prompted him to pursue further exposure, contacting MCC Bangladesh where he learned about the CSOP:

“I came [to CSOP] partly to study the courses, but also to study Mennonites generally. According to my experiences, in the United States and now here, I have found Mennonites to be very generous, soft, gentle people. Their beliefs are very near my own in so many ways,” he says.

But such discoveries of fellow-feeling no longer surprise Rohman.  “There are many many ideas which, in my experience, are common—in agreement—between religions. God has no flag, no nation, no country. All of human kind are his creations and most all religions have common basic principles. The points of disagreement are often exaggerated or misinterpreted, and this leads to an artificial wall being built between people that is unnecessary.  The Quran teaches that humans are created for the welfare of other humans. If this is so, how can we continue as we are, divided? Only when we discard artificially inflamed barriers, walls, can we embrace the common truth that binds us together.”

From under the continual pile-up of negative media messaging vis-a-vis religious conflict, Rohman's ability to name division sown in falsehood for what it is, his words of hope and possibility, come as a welcome relief. This is an active habit of thought for him which, he says, found a name for the first time in his course with Dan Epp-Tiessen: “For me, the one most memorable thing from this course was the instructor's definition of hope. He told us, 'hope is not desire, nor expectation. Hope is an action.'”

In his working life, Rohman serves as the Assistant General Manager of the Bangladesh Institute of Health & Sciences [BHIS]; as a result, he deals daily with people who have suffered physical and/or psychological trauma, often due to the violence of prejudiced government systems discriminating between tribal and settler peoples. In his context, hope is a key occupational skill; Rohman says has been grateful for the unique professional development opportunity CSOP has been in this respect.

“I would recommend CSOP especially to those involved in helping professions” he says. “Health, social work, clergy, etc. For instance, I know there are at least 200 students enrolled in BIHS nursing programs right now, and every last one of them should take a CSOP course. However, I really think all people should know about CSOP regardless of profession, because it deals with real life issues that affect everybody in one way or another. For example, everyone has trauma, or they will be traumatized at some time, or they will know somebody close who has been. Furthermore, I think everyone should learn how to view stories—life stories, religious stories, etc.—through the lens of hope and healing, because this view can bring new life to those who take it. For those who choose to come, taking a CSOP course will change your life's vision. It will make you a more open person.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Darnell Barkman

By Aaron Epp

CSOP massively energizing for Canadian peacebuilder working in the Philippines

When it comes to peace work in the Philippines, Darnell Barkman is on the front lines.

Barkman and his wife, Christina, are Mennonite Church Canada Witness Workers, giving pastoral leadership to PeaceChurch Philippines, an Anabaptist church they helped plant in Metro Manila.

Originally from Abbotsford, B.C., the Barkmans have also been instrumental in the development of Peace Assemblies Network, also known as the Philippines Anabaptist Network, a group of peace-oriented individuals and churches who seek to transform their society by embodying a culture of peace in their faith communities in the Philippines.

“Jesus calls us to nonviolence,” Darnell says. “That’s very distinct in the whole world. That’s very distinct in the Philippines.”

The Barkmans and their colleagues work for peace and reconciliation between Christians, Muslims, and the indigenous people of the Philippines in a variety of ways.

They respond to disasters by supporting marginalized people who get less help than others, they train military leaders in peacebuilding and human rights through partner organizations, and they challenge the larger church in the Philippines to love their neighbour and seek justice, just as Jesus taught.

“The evangelical church of the Philippines is missing the peace and reconciliation teachings of scripture,” Darnell says on his website, DarnellBarkman.com.

“Most leaders and members don’t see scripture’s ethics and peace teachings. They don’t know how to see them – no one has ever highlighted them and they are seldom taught. My goal is that the church centers herself on Jesus’ example and teaching as the soul of the faith. His teaching and examples in the Gospel are the primary story we are living to emulate.”

Darnell is passionate about Mennonite theology and Anabaptist history, and sharing that knowledge with people in the Philippines. He also describes himself as an “experimenter in personal transformation,” discontent to enjoy the status quo and always looking to learn something new.

That’s why, when he found out he would be on furlough in Canada when the 2015 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP) was taking place, he had to enrol.

Darnell travelled to Winnipeg to take the course The Justice of God: Questions of Justice in the Bible and the World, taught by Dr. Christopher Marshall, Professor of Restorative Justice at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

Darnell appreciated the way Marshall synthesized restorative justice principles with examples from his personal experience.

“What’s really cool is how he’s involved as a practitioner of restorative justice,” Darnell says.

Just as valuable as what he learned in the classroom was the opportunity Darnell had to meet new people at the CSOP.

“Peacebuilding can be very lonely work,” he says. Attending the CSOP was massively energizing because it allowed him to connect with other peacebuilders. “It’s amazing. It’s what we need.”

Now back in Manila, Darnell is excited to incorporate what he learned at CMU into his day-to-day work.

“Peace is not just a ‘60s hippy idea, or an individualistic,  new-age feeling,” Darnell says on his website. “Peacebuilding has a tangible output: Healed relationships and experienced justice in all sectors of society.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Folake Aderibigbe

By Aaron Epp

CSOP helps parliamentary aid from Nigeria advocate for women’s rights

Violence in the home, sexual harassment at school and work, rape and defilement, enforcement of gender-biased laws, harmful traditional practices – these are some of the things women in Nigeria face.

Through her role as an assistant in Nigeria’s parliament, Folake Aderibigbe is working to peacefully change her society’s views on women so that they are treated equally.

“Women are not able to talk about it because our culture or society does not allow these things to be said,” Aderibigbe says, “but I think it’s better to come out and say what’s going on.”

Aderibigbe, who is writing a book about domestic violence and its effects on children, traveled from her hometown of Lagos to Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg this past June to study at the university’s Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP).

Aderibigbe took a course titled Women and Peacebuilding, which explored women’s involvement in peace action, research, and education.

The things Aderibigbe learned in the class will be useful in her work as a parliamentary aid. Only seven of Nigeria’s MPs are female, and Aderibigbe plans to brief them on what she learned.

In Nigeria, women are traditionally “to be seen and not heard,” Aderibigbe says, but she feels it’s important to speak up.

“I’ll use my pen. I’ll (prepare) a write-up and give it to the MPs,” she says. “We (women) need the same education, we need the same rights. We need to network, we need to have a voice, we need to come together as allies.”

While the Nigerian government recently began passing laws prohibiting violence against women, many women are still afraid to come forward.

“It’s hectic (and) sometimes it’s difficult,” Aderibigbe says.

She hopes her work, and sharing the things she learned at the CSOP, will influence the MPs to create even better legislation to protect women.

Born and raised in Lagos, Aderibigbe worked hard to get where she is today.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, as well as graduate degrees in International Relations and Public Administration from the Lagos City University and the University of Lagos, respectively.

After democratic rule returned to Nigeria in 1999, Aderibigbe was among the first sets of people employed to work in parliament.

In addition to assisting six MPs, Aderibigbe’s work includes writing. Five years ago, she published her first book. A Decade of Positive Legislation examines the history of Nigeria’s current parliament and how it works.

As the mother of a 15-year-old girl, issues of violence against women are close to Aderibigbe’s heart.

She says her experience at the CSOP was positive.

“The experience has been good,” Aderibigbe says. “The people are loving and ready to accommodate (students)… The environment is serene and it’s conducive to learning.”

Aderibigbe hopes to bring some MPs with her when she returns to the school in 2016.

“I hope they will come here so that they can better serve their constituents.”

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CSOP Participant Profile – Ali Shakeri, Mohammad Hozourbakhsh & Mohammad Barteh

By Aaron Epp

Iranian graduate students discover new ideas at Canadian School of Peacebuilding

Did you know that the 2015 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP) took place during Ramadan? Three of its students were very aware of this.

Ali Shakeri, Mohammad Reza Hozourbakhsh, and Mohammad Rida Barteh traveled from their home in Qom, Iran to study at the CSOP. The three graduate students practice the Muslim faith, and so spent mid-June to mid-July fasting from sunrise to sunset as part of the annual act of worship.

According to Islamic belief, Ramadan is meant to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad.

The purpose is for Muslims to practice the presence of God in their daily life, Hozourbakhsh said.

“(The purpose is) to feel it more, grasp it more, and to share it with others, and to understand the hunger and thirst of poor people,” he said.

Being in a Christian atmosphere at Ramadan was a completely new experience for the three.

“Participating in classes in which all members are drinking and eating and we just have to (watch) is also new,” Shakeri said.

While all three had been to CMU prior to their visit in June – they were part of a group of graduate students from the International Institute for Islamic Studies (IIIS) in Qom, Iran who visited CMU March 8-18 to take a course in Christian Systematic Theology – it was their first time studying at the CSOP.

All three enrolled in the course The Justice of God: Questions of Justice in the Bible and the World, taught by Dr. Christopher Marshall, Professor of Restorative Justice at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

Barteh said the things they learned in the course will help them in their careers as university professors.

“There are two kinds of thinking,” he said. “The first is that you focus on differences between people and (the other is) finding similarities and coming together, and sharing the similar things we understand about humanity and the goal of life and the good life.

“We think this course (will) help us to find the simplest and best way (when working with) people from different nationalities, different races, different backgrounds, different nations. That’s why we are here.”

Barteh added that he and his colleagues enjoyed studying with Marshall.

“We found him to be a very devoted Christian,” Bareh said. “Every day, he comes up with ideas that are really genuinely new to us… Chris is a really informative person.”

The trio were invited to study at the CSOP after their visit in March.

That visit stemmed from a series of dialogues that began in 2002 that bring together Shi’a Muslim scholars from Iran and Mennonite scholars from Canada and the U.S. The goal of these dialogues is to improve understanding between Muslims and Christians.

The dialogues have resulted in a series of exchanges that have seen Iranian students from the IIIS travel to Winnipeg to study at CMU, and vice versa.

“We hope this process will be ongoing in the future,” Bareh said, “and we appreciate this recent invitation (to study at) the CSOP.”