July, 2005
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The Center for Mediation, Peace, and Resolution of Conflict -
International is pleased to present its e-Newsletter.
In this issue, you will find:
 (L-R) Patricia Fernandez-Pacheco of UNIFEM teaching gender and human rights at training workshop for Colombian and Ecuadorian women; Core teaching team for the workshop--CEMPROC Executive Director Jeff Pugh, CEMPROC Program Associate Katie Windle, CEMPROC Ecuador Director Diana Palacios, CIF therapist Norma Bravo, Universidad Javeriana professor Andres Quintero Breaking Cycles: Dialogue and TrainingEvery year, thousands of people are forced to become refugees fleeing the violence of Colombia's internal armed struggle. Of these, the majority are women and children. Ecuador, Colombia's neighbor to the south, receives many of these refugees every year (between 200,000 and 300,000 Colombians are estimated to be living in Ecuador by Refugees International), sparking separate conflicts like increased economic competition, crime, public health problems, and xenophobia. The entrenched conflict these refugees are fleeing kills 3,000-4,000 civilians per year according to USAID, and it is easy to see why these victims could begin to despair from a sense of powerlessness in the face of a cycle of violence and oppression.In a highly successful collaborative program, CEMPROC-International carried out a training, dialogue, and research program in June entitled "Breaking Destructive Cycles: Educational Dialogues on Leadership, Conflict Resolution, and Social Justice". This program was directed toward Colombian and Ecuadorian women who are community leaders in Ibarra, an Ecuadorian city with a large Colombian immigrant and refugee population. The participants, among whom were the President of the Colombian Residents Association of Ibarra, the President of the Disabled Persons Council of Ibarra, and a number of business, neighborhood, and civil society leaders, represented a diverse and active cross-section of Ecuadorians and Colombians. Over the course of the approximately 30-hour program, this group of leaders learned about negotiation, effective communication, personal conflict management, mediation, human rights, family and community violence prevention, and leadership. They also had the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue about conflict over Colombian immigration and refugee issues. One participant said, "This was an inspiration for my future. Thanks for everything-- it was wonderful!" Another explained, "This workshop was and is important for me because I work with all of the buroughs of my dear Ibarra. I hope that all of you continue to help other people resolve their conflicts as happened with me. Thanks!" Coordinated by CEMPROC, the program was made possible through the participation and support of our partners, including the Johns Hopkins University Program on Latin American Studies, the Ciudad Educadora of the Municipal Government of Ibarra, Prof. Andres Quintero of the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, the Center for Integrated Family Services in Quito, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) office in Ibarra, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) office in Quito, the Hotel Ajavi, the Hotel Nueva Estancia, the Hotel Madrid, the Hotel Nueva Colonia, and individual donors. For details and more photos from this program, see http://www.cemproc.org/breakingcycles.html.  Environmental Conflict Study Trip to EcuadorEnvironmental conflicts in Ecuador have traditionally been resolved through informal negotiation (with underhanded fighting between the parties), which is hampered by power imbalances and conditions of domination. To a lesser extent, these conflicts are also addressed through national or international courts, as in the conflict between the multinational corporation TEXACO and an Amazon indigenous group over petroleum operations and clean up in the rainforest. The group sued TEXACO outside of the United States, and this hearing is currently in process in the city of Nueva Loja, Ecuador.A major problem with informal negotiation is that it encourages paternalism, and solutions imposed from the outside, without taking into account important factors such as: the environmental impact on the affected place itself, and the effects of the conflict on the population, religion, ecosystem, customs, etc. Most importantly, the imbalance of power between the parties often results in the weaker party accepting the imposed will of the stronger side in exchange for a resolution, although the resolution does not necessarily benefit both and can be destructive in the long term. Because of this, CEMPROC and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are currently working to raise awareness among the people in Ecuador and in other parts of the world about the need to bring conflict to the negotiation table, where the parties involved learn to negotiate from a principled perspective of mutual respect and equality. In order to educate future leaders in this problem, CEMPROC hosted a study abroad trip to Ecuador in May on environmental conflict and justice for students from Jen Osha's enironmental policies and issues class at Salem International University in West Virginia. The group heard from experts about the grave environmental conflicts that occur in Ecuador, visited environmental disaster sites, talked with community leaders in these areas, and had a chance to visit the cloud forest and Amazon jungle in which many environmental conflicts, especially struggles over petroleum, take place. One student commented, "I never realized before how much environmental exploitation goes on, and how this affects conservation--my eyes have been opened. This trip has changed my life! Now I want to go back to the United States and raise awareness about what is happening." To find out more about CEMPROC's customized study abroad programs in Ecuador for college students on enviromental conflict, international conflict and peace, social justice, and related topics, please see http://www.cemproc.org/studyabroad.html or contact us at cemproc@cemproc.org. Available Services, Products, and Training CEMPROC is a prime source of information and materials related to peace and conflict resolution. Some of these are available for free to the public, and some are available to be ordered. Our training manual for the basic CEMPROC conflict resolution course provides very practical steps to understand and improve communication, interpersonal relations, negotiation, and mediation skills. This manual, available in English or Spanish, is included in CEMPROC courses, or it can be ordered separately. Please e-mail info@cemproc.org or see the training web page for ordering information. You can also find an excerpt from the manual and sample instructional materials on this page. In addition to instructional materials, CEMPROC makes available research undertaken by the organization or its affiliates, which are available on the Research web page. We are happy to work with your organization, company, or group to develop a customized training program that can help you strengthen the capabilities of your staff or members to deal effectively and productively with the conflict that is an inevitable part of life. We have developed custom training programs for educational institutions, churches and religious groups, university classes, and entire office staffs, and are happy to design a flexible program to meet the needs of your particular group or organization. Simply contact us at info@cemproc.org to find out more. 
Children's Conflict Resolution in GeorgiaCEMPROC has already trained hundreds of children in Ecuador in effective communication, conflict resolution, and nonviolence, with the latest program being taught by Diana Palacios for 450 children in April. Now, however, in partnership with various community organizations, schools, and churches and financial support from the United Methodist Church and others, CEMPROC is bringing its acclaimed program, Conflict Resolution for Children, to Forsyth County, GA! This program will target primarily Spanish-speaking children ages 8-12, teaching them the importance of nonviolence, sharing, listening, open and clear communication, mediation, and other conflict resolution strategies using innovative and fun techniques like dramas, songs, active participation, and a conflict resolution 'wheel of strategies'. We invite community volunteers who would like to help out with these programs to contact us so we can plug you in as we get the program going. We can use anyone who has energy and a love of children, although we especially need Spanish-speaking volunteers. Please contact us for more information at cemproc@cemproc.org. Letter from the Executive Director I recently gave a talk at a Rotary Club in Cumming, GA, where the topic was world peace. This phrase tends to sound fuzzy and vague, and many people think of it as an empty slogan with little real meaning. It is easy to throw the phrase around, wishing for world peace around the holiday season or during a beauty pageant or essay contest. As is so often the case, however, our failure to appreciate the importance of working toward world peace lies not with the emptiness of the words or the impossibility of the task, but in how we visualize the problem. As with any major challenge worth addressing, violence and destructive conflict is a global problem of such enormous scope that it seems overwhelming and futile to spend time seeking to reduce it. I believe that this is a mistaken attitude, because I frequently have the opportunity to see very visually and concretely what world peace looks like. Just as violence is made up of many shards of individual destructive conflicts, the seeds of world peace are found in the actions and attitudes of individual peacemakers and leaders. What does world peace look like? To me it looks like an 8-year-old girl who learns to listen and share her feelings openly rather than lashing out in violent frustration. It looks like an Ecuadorian community leader's astonished face when she realizes how she has been limited by her stereotyped images of her Colombian neighbors and she resolves to reach out and build bridges and strong relationships across nationalities within her neighborhood. It looks like the spark of discovery and maturity in the eye of a college student who has just been exposed for the first time to the realities of violent conflict, exploitation, and poverty in the developing world and is determined to strive toward reducing these evils in his professional life. This summer, I have seen fragments of what world peace is made of. Our conflict resolution program for hundreds of children in Ecuador, our environmental conflict program for U.S. college students, and the educational training and dialogue series that we carried out for Colombian and Ecuadorian women in Ibarra, Ecuador, have all shown rich examples of what world peace can look like. I encourage you to seek out seeds of peace in your own life, and if you don't find them immediately, create them! I think you will find that world peace is not a meaningless phrase at all, but that it is a goal we can work toward, step by step, by focusing on individual, concrete, problems that are resolved through individual, concrete solutions. Best wishes, Jeff Pugh Founding Executive Director Letter from the Board President We’ve had a great spring and early summer, with good success and positive feedback from our Environmental Conflict symposium with US college students in Ecuador and from the training session in Ibarra working to bridge gaps and build understanding among Ecuadorian women and Columbian women in Ecuador. We are very pleased to have sponsorship now to bring some of the programs that have been successful in Ecuador to the US for application among Hispanic immigrants in our local communities, beginning with the children’s program to be piloted in the fall in Cumming, GA. I thought it might be useful to share some of the core operating principles that guide our organization:
CEMPROC thanks the generous individuals, organizations, and corporations
whose contributions of time and resources this past quarter make possible
its programs to
reduce destructive conflict in Latin America and the United States.
Together, we are creating peacemakers...one person at a
time. CEMPROC would like to recognize in particular the following
Summer Quarter supporters:CEMPROC Patrons:
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Creating Peacemakers...One Person at a Time 
Dr. Salomon Cabezas
International Board of
Directors |
NO MORE, PLEASE!
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