CRC recently hired a new Program Assistant, Rain Banbury who originally hails from Narberth, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. (And in case you were wondering, no, her parents weren't hippies.) Most recently living in Florida, Rain packed up her car on one week's notice to join the office in Montpelier, to help out with recruiting, redesigning the web site, and project development. She is adjusting to the winter weather well, and happy to be helping out, even if she is getting lots of "Snow" jokes.
Good news! After nearly a year of persistent networking and development, Conflict Resolution Catalysts is finally on the verge of implementing the Community Facilitators Project in Kosovo. This big step forward is thanks to the pending support of a respected non-governmental organization working worldwide. While they have traditionally focused on emergency material assistance, they have recently expanded their mission to include conflict resolution, peacebuilding and community development, realizing these are important ways to address the root causes underlying many of today's humanitarian crises. Based on the success of our Neighborhood Facilitators project in Bosnia, they have asked us to draft a proposal to work with their existing relief operations in Kosovo. Coming up in March, Executive Director, Gary Shapiro (link to bio) will make a month long assessment trip to the region, to scout possible sites for Community Centers and meet with NGO's and local grassroot organizations. If successful, the program will be fully funded for one year and training will hopefully begin in April/May.
Plans to expand the board from the current 2 members, plus the resignation of Gary Shapiro from the board have produces room for additional members. Shapiro resigned in August, largely so he could devote more time to developing and implementing programs aimed at grassroots peacebuilding around the world and educating citizens about conflict resolution. If you have time, and want to contribute to CRC's efforts globally and locally, please contact us.
Highgate is a low-income housing project in Montpelier, which has seen repeated conflicts in recent years. After approaching CRC with their internal conflict resolution program, asking for suggestions, CRC provided several training sessions for the staff, looking at issues related to community building. "Rather than just talking about the problems, we are primarily focusing on where people want to be and how to get there," said Gary Shapiro, who led the training.
In recent months, CRC has been invited to two schools in Vermont to talk with students about our work and share ideas about the dynamic processes of war and peace. In early November, Gary Shapiro went to Mt. Abraham High School in Bristol, Vermont. For the second consecutive year, he was invited to the school by physics teacher Tom Tailer to observe a war and peace simulation by his students and to take part in the panel discussion that followed. The panel included several Vermont peace activists and representatives of the military. Gary talked about re-defining the role of the military to do more peacebuilding, and creating more balance between peace and military expenditures. While at Mt. Abraham, he also had a discussion with student peer mediators and interested teachers about peacemaking opportunities for youth.
In late September, Gary Shapiro gave a presentation to the class of the Peace and War course at Johnson State College, in Johnson, Vermont. The course, led by Professors Kit Cooke and Judith Yarnell, "is an interdisciplinary inquiry into the roots of violence and nonviolence, making use of historical, psychological, biological and spiritual perspectives." Building upon the class topic that day - stereotyping - Gary shared vignettes of stereotyping and prejudice, from all sides, in the Balkans. He also talked about the following themes: the manipulation of history by media and government to create and maintain stereotypes; the victim-becomes-aggressor cycle; cultural and psychological dynamics such as authoritarianism, disempowerment, and fear; shifting focus from the past to the future; and strategies for citizen empowerment and civil society development, such as developing social capital and civic engagement.
On October 9, 1999, two world-renowned musicians performed at the Barre Opera House in Vermont, in a special benefit concert for CRC's Community Facilitators Project in Kosovo. The concert was entitled "A Celebration of World Peace" and was organized by Live Art, an arts organization dedicated to promoting and preserving folk music and dance. The concert featured Tommy Sands, Celtic folk musician from Northern Ireland, and Vedran Smailovic, the "Lone Cellist of Sarajevo", in a powerful show of hope and healing. Coming from two troubled parts of Europe, their music told moving stories of sorrow and joy. Our thanks go to these two wonderful musicians, along with everyone who attended, for their support. And a special thanks to Kristina Stykos and Live Art, which made it all possible.