2003 Annual Report

The organization, tentatively called the Center for Peace and the Resolution of Conflict or Centro para Paz y la Resolución de Conflictos (CEMPROC), has progressed and begun to take shape in a substantially shorter time than originally projected. In fact, nearly all of the aspects of Stage I of the Strategic Plan-projected to last six months-have been accomplished in two months, and progress is being made on a number of points slated for Stage II.

The organization has tentatively adopted the following mission statement and objectives: "To promote mediation and other peaceful methods of conflict resolution on a grassroots level in the Western Hemisphere, to provide training and capacity building in conflict resolution skills, particularly in marginalized and poor areas, to equip potential and actual leaders at all levels of society to become successful peacebuilders within their areas of influence, to promote the study of conflict and its potential solutions, and to support an integrated process of community development."

In support of this vision, the following is a list of accomplishments and future projects that have been carried out or agreed upon during the first two months of the organizational initiation period:

A total of 36 people have received conflict resolution training in the United States and Ecuador
A two hour course was given to 14 neighborhood leaders in Atacucho, an impoverished sector on the northwestern outskirts of Quito. Examples of feedback from the course include,
"This workshop has been very positive; it has increased my capacity for understanding and has raised my self-esteem."
"Personally, I feel very grateful for this new knowledge and understanding, to be able to act within our daily lives and in our organization. I hope this chat is prolonged for a long time, so that step by step, we can continue to gain knowledge to obtain a positive change in our interactions with our peers. I thank you for your great willingness to help in our community. Thanks for everything."
A five hour course was given to eleven daycare staff and members of the community in La Ecuatoriana daycare center near Chillogallo, an impoverished sector in South Quito. An example of feedback from the course includes:
"For me, [the course] went beautifully because I learned a lot about what conflict is at a general level, the styles of confronting and resolving conflicts, and it was in an understandable vocabulary. I would like to have another workshop for all of my coworkers."
Short roundtable chats on conflict resolution and effective communication themes were carried out with staff members in two daycare centers in South Quito.
A basic adaptable curriculum, including participative activities, simulations, and hand out resources, was designed to be able to offer conflict resolution training to a variety of audiences. In addition, a four-module training sequence was designed, with each module building on the previous ones.
The organization agreed to embark on a joint project with the Centro de Educación y Promoción Popular (CEPP) to create a curriculum for a conflict resolution and nonviolence course for school teachers and one for students, and to publish a course manual(s) to support this course. CEMPROC will provide technical leadership and content oversight, and CEPP will draw on its educational experience to focus on the form of the course, will provide editing and translation as needed, and will seek funding for the project. This project will become sustainable through the revenue generated from course manual sales.
The organization agreed to collaborate with a physician who works to promote public health in Atacucho and other poor areas of Ecuador, in a joint survey project to gain baseline information about the types and sources of conflict that are most prevalent in impoverished areas of Ecuador; the methods people currently use to resolve these conflicts; what people think are the most serious problems that they face; and the relationship between conflict, poverty, and lack of opportunities in Ecuador, among other themes. This information will help CEMPROC identify the most pressing needs and to design effective programs that meet the needs of its constituents. These programs will promote conflict resolution while creating opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and build a sustainable improvement in their quality of life. The survey will be created jointly between CEMPROC, the doctor, and his University medical students, and will be distributed in a number of marginalized areas with the help of his students. This process will also help to identify local leaders who will become key contacts and sources of input for the organization and its activities.
Four individuals, three of whom have mediation and conflict resolution training and/or experience, have volunteered to help the organization through providing mediation services or in other ways.
With respect to publicity, the organization has been profiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) on their website (generating two of the volunteers mentioned above), and CEMPROC has placed basic information about the organization on an interim web page until it can launch its official web site, for which cost estimates of hosting the site have been gathered. Also, a brief study was done to collect and compare cost estimates for different publicity brochure options.
An executive summary of the organization was created and is available in Spanish and English to interested persons or organizations.
Attorneys in the United States and in Ecuador were consulted to begin the process of completing the necessary work for incorporation in both countries. Preliminary articles of incorporation and bylaws have been drafted.
A preliminary long-term sustainability plan was drafted, including projected expenses and potential sources of revenue, which attempts to balance earned income and solicited individual, corporate, and foundation contributions.
Consistent with the mission statement's objective "to support an integrated process of community development," the organization facilitated financial support to Fundación Con Cristo, which empowers handicapped children with the ability to improve their lives through its special-needs daycare center in Quitumbe, an impoverished sector of south Quito.
A multi-layered philosophical foundation was developed to form the basis for the organization's activities.
Contacts have been made among an increasing network of interested Ecuadorian individuals, organizations, and potential partners.

Submitted December 22, 2003
Jeff Pugh
Project Director

2003 Annual Report

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