Nonviolence training for U.S. civilian peacekeeping

Last September, the Fellowship of Reconciliation awarded its annual International Pfeffer Peace Prize to the Nonviolent Peaceforce, an inspiring international NGO working to support peacemaking efforts in conflict zones around the world. Mel Duncan, an FOR member in Minnesota who is executive director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and who co-founded the idea with FOR member David Hartsough of San Francisco, came to Nyack to FOR's Festival of Peace to accept the award in person.

Duncan then traveled directly to Nairobi, Kenya, where NP held an international conference on civilian peacekeeping, gathering representatives of peace groups from around the world. Linda Dunn, a long-time FOR member who is a leader in the Inland Communities FOR local group (based in southern California in the Riverside CA area), attended the conference and reported in the Winter 2008 issue of Fellowship magazine hope for the growth of NP's global work at this critical time. Dunn noted that NP, which had an initial geographic focus on the civil war in Sri Lanka for its first few years, is now working to address conflicts in Uganda, Guatemala, the Philippines, and other regions around the world.

Now, NP is offering an opportunity for people in the United States to attend a training of trainers this spring for domestic civilian peacekeeping efforts. Linda Dunn shared the following information with FOR, and we are pleased to report it here:

NONVIOLENT PEACEFORCE NORTH AMERICA
DOMESTIC (LOCAL) PEACE TEAM TRAINING OF TRAINERS
MAY 9-14, 2008, DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Are you an experienced, North American trainer who would like to offer high quality training for groups wanting to form nonpartisan LOCAL PEACE TEAMS in the US and Canada? NP North America is offering an (almost) FREE training of trainers for a new, ten-module (6-day) curriculum. This will be held from Friday evening, May 9 through Wednesday, May 14 in the Detroit, Michigan area, hosted by our Member Organization Michigan Peace Team. The curriculum is based on the cumulative training experiences of Nonviolent Peaceforce internationally and Michigan Peace Team domestically. This workshop will be led by three wonderful trainers: Sheri Wander, Amy Gilmore Cairns and Linda Sartor. All have extensive peace team service in addition to their training experience. If you are accepted to attend the training, there is no instructional or housing cost to you; your costs are transportation to Detroit, $115 for food and materials, and your time.

NP has no plans or capacity at this time to fund the training of local volunteer peace teams, although it will work toward providing/facilitating mutual mentoring, networking and impact assessment for those offering such training. In order for you to be compensated as a trainer of this curriculum, you should plan to be funded either through your organization, through collection of fees from trainees, or through independent fundraising.

If you would like to receive more information, an Application Form and a Curriculum Summary, please e-mail Joan Bernstein, NP's North American Regional Coordinator. Please apply by April 1, 2008.