Stauffer spoke about , a national, grassroots movement that is enabling the country to heal deep psychosocial wounds left by a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002. He suggested that this movement had proven to be more effective 鈥� more truly restorative 鈥� than the top-down criminal prosecutions pursued in many countries, including Sierra Leone, after violent conflicts.

Stauffer spoke from first-hand experience. From 2000 to 2009, Stauffer was Mennonite Central Committee鈥檚 Regional Peace Adviser for the Southern Africa region, a role that took him to 20 African countries and 10 other countries in the Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, and the Balkans. He and his family lived in Africa for a total of 16 years; he earned a PhD studying how mythology fueled violence in Zimbabwe.

As an invited expert to the , Stauffer was one of three in a panel discussion on 鈥渞estorative principles in transitional justice.鈥� Alongside him was alumna Pushpi Weerakoon, a native of Sri Lanka who earned her master鈥檚 degree from EMU鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in 2010. Today she is a scholar and fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka as examples

In keeping with the theme of the Feb. 28 symposium, 鈥淩estorative Justice: Theory Meets Application,鈥� both Stauffer and Weerakoon drew upon examples from specific countries (Sierra Leone for Stauffer; Sri Lanka for Weerakoon) to make the following general points, using words from a paper published previously by Weerakoon:

Restorative justice is about healing, not judgment; about recognizing the uniqueness of a situation and individuals, not blindly following the rule-based system of law; it is about compassion not control; about dialogue not advocacy; about recognition of the harm, and not apportionment of guilt. Restorative justice empowers people who are typically silenced or marginalized; it deals with people, not process and system; it builds rather than fragments communities; and it is cathartic and a legitimate end in itself.

Weerakoon鈥檚 words are universal, but she was writing in reference to Sri Lanka鈥檚 26 years of war and its aftermath, once the government defeated the separatist Tamil fighters in 2009. Now there are thousands of individuals who were formerly child soldiers and who need to be re-integrated into society. Meanwhile, United Nations officials have repeatedly criticized the government for ongoing violations of human rights. During the war, both sides were shown to have acted unconscionably.

Weerakoon and Stauffer were surrounded by a sympathetic crowd at Harvard. Three 2011 MA graduates of CJP were among the 85 people in the audience at various points in the day: Barbara Robbins, Judy Clarke, and Rebecca Stone. Among the other invited speakers were a number of restorative justice experts whose writings are studied at CJP, including Harvard law school dean Martha Minow; Daniel Van Ness of Prison Fellowship International; and Mark Umbreit, founding director of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota.

How Fambul Tok works

The spring-summer 2011 issue of EMU鈥檚 Peacebuilder magazine , who now co-directs EMU鈥檚 Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, and a summary of the Sierra Leone example cited by him at Harvard. This is that summary, slightly edited:

In 2006, we partnered with John Caulker who had an organization called 鈥楩orum for Conscience鈥� in Sierra Leone. We used some of the same material there as in South Africa, working with entire affected communities — seven to ten thousand had their legs and arms amputated in the civil war in Sierra Leone and so many were blinded, they have their own associations. There were ex-combatants associations. Bush wives associations. Those groups 鈥� we brought them together 鈥� 25 to 30 in each of those first workshops in 2006 and 2007.

John helped us to understand the importance of conducting a healing process that would run parallel to the formal Truth and Reconciliation process, which only operated at the upper tip of society. John wanted to start rebuilding his country individual by individual, family by family, village by village, from the base up by simply listening and talking to each other.

Catalyst for Peace, a private foundation in Maine, has committed to funding the Fambul Tok process for 15 years, an impressive, long-term commitment without a lot of strings attached. And it鈥檚 working!

Our current international justice system needs to recognize initiatives such as Fambul Tok as significant community healing and justice processes. I鈥檓 convinced with appropriate research we could make a solid argument that this form of community-level justice is actually more satisfying and more effective for the rebuilding of Sierra Leone than the singular use of a Truth Commission or the International Criminal Court. The Criminal Court 鈥� for instance 鈥� built a building in the capital of Sierra Leone that cost millions. And then the court took four years to try nine people.

The reason it took four years to do nine cases is because they were trying to establish all of the details of the atrocities that these nine leaders did during the civil war. While these factors are important, they are certainly not all that the country needs in order to resolve its pain. As is the case in so many war-torn regions, Sierra Leone needs to be restored, justly, which is a long-term process that can only be done by the people themselves, one day at a time.

Stauffer is in his third year of a research project that assesses the value of community-level justice and reconciliation efforts through the study of Fambul Tok.

For more information on restorative justice, including studying the subject at EMU, visit this .

Guerrier was 鈥渟elected from a highly competitive pool of over 400 applicants and representing a diverse mix of national and ethnic backgrounds,鈥� according to a Feb. 20 news release by the sponsoring organization, , an international educational organization headquartered in New York City.

EMU is one of 22 academic institutions in the United States and Europe with a selected student; it is likely the smallest among a group that includes Ankara University in Turkey, Harvard, Institut d’茅tudes politiques (Sciences Po Paris), Johns Hopkins, King鈥檚 College in London, Oxford and Princeton.

Selection criteria included 鈥渉igh academic standing, demonstrated experience in international diversity issues, outstanding recommendations and developed research interests,鈥� said the Humanity in Action release.

The 24 fellows will be studying, consulting and doing research together in three cities 鈥� Washington, Berlin and Paris 鈥� with a focus on exploring 鈥渢he different diplomatic approaches of each country, specifically on issues of diversity, democracy and pluralism,鈥� said Anthony Chase, Humanity in Action鈥檚 Director of Programs.

Multiple sessions in Washington D.C. will be hosted at the , according to the news release. Toward the conclusion of their fellowship, the group is expected to wrap up research on a subject relating to global diversity for publication by Humanity in Action.

At EMU, Guerrier has been a graduate research assistant at the , which led him to do site research on the impact of in promoting reconciliation in postwar communities in Sierra Leone.

In a Guerrier reflected on his time in Sierra Leone, pondering its recovery from an 11-year civil war, with these words (excerpted):

“With their machetes, the child soldiers ripped open the stomach of pregnant women to see who would win the game in guessing the gender of the unborn baby.鈥� This was a story I heard this summer, when I travelled for the first time in Africa to Sierra Leone to undertake a field research project exploring issues of justice. My question was, 鈥淗ow do we even begin to satisfy the justice needs of people after mass atrocities, genocide, and gross human rights violations?鈥�

I worked with Fambul Tok International, an NGO that was formed after the war to address community reconciliation through community-led peacebuilding efforts, including truth-telling ceremonies rooted in indigenous traditions.

As we drove through the dirt and rocky roads to access remote villages, the trembles of the car shook away my sense of worry as it reawakened childhood memories from my native country Haiti. It has been 300 years since my ancestors were uprooted around the same area in West Africa and brought to Haiti on slave ships. I said to myself, 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be back after so long鈥�.

Through the focus group interviews I conducted, I was able to enter a sacred space within the Sierra Leonean culture鈥� A woman told how the rebels had burned down her house, killed her husband and daughter, and stole all her cattle. She recognized the perpetrator as her neighbor, and had known him since he was a child. Even though there was a lot of pain and sorrow, she understood that since he lived in the community, neither she nor the community could move forward without reconciling with the person who had caused this harm.

I was shocked at how many people were willing to forgive. They said that healing the wounds of their society and village could not take place without it. They believed that it was an essential element to stop the cycles of violence. I was shocked because I expected to hear a more punitive, western approach to justice in which prisons are always the solution and the perpetrator is removed from the community.

As typical of Guerrier鈥檚 reflective approach to peacebuilding, he wrote that being in Sierra Leone was humbling and eye-opening. 鈥淗aving observed the experiences of the people of Sierra Leone and their ability to overcome the horrors of the war through their wealth in values, I am no longer bogged down by the trivial things in my life when something goes wrong,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 live more lightly.鈥�

Guerrier is also a board member of an EMU-affiliated organization, , an organization that works across the United States to address the legacies of slavery.

It also helped that Gbowee knew 草莓社区 well. She had earned a in 2007.

Gbowee, a social worker who led a women鈥檚 peace movement that helped end Liberia鈥檚 civil war 10 years ago, addressed a fundraising dinner for over 100 people at EMU on Feb. 7. Organized by the school鈥檚 International Student Organization, the event was followed by a public address to about 200 attendees, who put contributions into baskets passed by the students.

The events raised over $4,000 after expenses for the care of children whose parents died from Ebola. The funds will go to the Nobel winner鈥檚 in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. The foundation makes grants to grassroots groups, including two Liberian organizations founded by graduates of .

The countries hardest hit by Ebola, which started in March 2014, were Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, said Gbowee in her public address. The 3.4 million people of her country had only 51 doctors. 鈥淲e were not prepared for Ebola, but Liberian civil society rose to the occasion,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 wait around for the international community to come and help us.鈥�

Gbowee told the stories of three Liberian heroes 鈥� a doctor who cared for Ebola victims in his humble clinic at the risk of his own life, a taxi driver who transported dangerously infectious patients to the hospital, and a young man with a full-time job who provides care for orphans in his off hours.

The epidemic has finally abated in Africa, she said. The Ebola clinics are emptying and students are going back to school. But, she added, the people still live in fear, the economy is ruined and orphans abound.

鈥淲e appreciate the help of international organizations,鈥� Gbowee said. 鈥淏ut sometimes they didn鈥檛 bother to consult with the local people about how to fight Ebola. They thought they had the expertise, but if you don鈥檛 really listen to what the people want, then it鈥檚 not much use.鈥�

Gbowee has a reputation for speaking truth to power, most notably when she publicly confronted the president of Liberia during the country鈥檚 civil war. Most recently she criticized the United Nations鈥� humanitarian aid efforts during a meeting of the UN Security Council.

During a question-and-answer session at the conclusion of her speech, Gbowee praised young people for their idealism and gave advice on how to start on the path to activism. 鈥淚deas that are ground-breaking and keep you awake at night might seem like crazy ideas,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut write them down, tell a friend and step out boldly. Getting angry about an unjust situation is not only okay, she added, but a good thing.

The students who organized the fundraiser represented five continents: Kaltuma Noorow and Nandi Onetu of Kenya, Winifred Gray-Johnson and Gee Paegar of Liberia, Sun Ju Lee of South Korea, Wael Gamtessa of Ethiopia, Brenda Soka of Tanzania, Zoe Parakuo of the United States, Norah Alobikan of Saudi Arabia, Danika Saucedo of Bolivia, Victoria Gunawan of Indonesia, and Marcus Ekman of Sweden. , EMU鈥檚 director of , is the advisor for the International Student Organization.

Gbowee鈥檚 last trip to EMU was in April 2014, when she was the that included her son, Joshua Mensah. Before that she came to campus in . Just prior to her arrival, the was announced, and thus her appearance made for a frenzied weekend.

Editor’s note: Kara Lofton, a 2014 EMU grad, reported on Gbowee’s appearance at the Ebola fundraiser for local public radio station WMRA; her four-minute report can be heard.

To the amazement of growing numbers of observers from around the world,听the result has been forgiveness and reconciliation and rebuilding, village by village, on a scale never before achieved.

These heartfelt conversations have been nurtured under a program called Fambul Tok (Krio for 鈥渇amily talk鈥�), led by John Caulker, a human rights activist in Sierra Leone.

Fambul Tok began in the summer and fall of 2007, when John Caulker received the backing of Libby Hoffman and her Maine-based foundation Catalyst for Peace to develop a grassroots answer to the high-level, highly expensive UN-backed Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone.

Caulker, who had lobbied for the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was deeply disappointed in how little it accomplished, after it spent more than $300 million on highly publicized trials of nine men. In contrast, Caulker wanted to help heal the lives of the average person in often-rural communities where neighbors looked suspiciously at neighbors, and even family members were divided by what some had done during wartime.

Hoffman caught the spirit of Caulker鈥檚 vision and worked with him 鈥� and with a few people at EMU鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, where she had attended SPI 1996 and returned for a course in 2000 鈥� to design core elements, objectives and operating principles for Fambul Tok. Amy Potter Czajkowski, MA 鈥�02, and Robert Roche, MA 鈥�08, were program officers for Fambul Tok during its formative stages.

On June 11, 2013, Caulker was the Frontier Luncheon speaker at SPI. He treated his audience to an inspiring account of how a small ripple can, when patiently fanned, grow into a rising tide across the nation.

At SPI 2014, two rising leaders in Fambul Tok 鈥� women鈥檚 leader Michaela Ashwood and former pastor Emmanuel Mansaray 鈥� studied conflict analysis, psychosocial trauma, and organizational leadership. They are being prepared to step up as Caulker transitions from leading Fambul Tok in Sierra Leone to playing a wider peacebuilding role under the auspices of the African Union.

鈥淔rom the very word go, we鈥檝e made Fambul Tok a community-owned and community-led process,鈥� said Ashwood, who has worked with Caulker for seven years. 鈥淲e only support. They鈥檝e heard about Fambul Tok on the radio, so they already know something about us. We may provide a bag of rice [for the community gathering], but they provide the goat or fish and fresh vegetables.鈥�

Mansarary added, 鈥淲e work at the level of the man in the village whose neighbor might have been the one who burned down his house, amputated his son and raped his wife.鈥�

Everyone is longing for the opportunity to tell their stories, said Mansaray. 鈥淭he victims have stories they want to tell, and so do the perpetrators,鈥� who often talk of being drugged or otherwise forced to do horrible things when they ask for forgiveness.

Fambul Tok now has groups of women, called Peace Mothers (led by Ashwood), who are active in election campaigns and in schools, doing education and dousing sparks of conflicts before they become raging fires. This represents a change in Sierra Leone鈥檚 culture, where traditionally women had no voice.

Future plans include spreading peacebuilding principles through Sierra Leone鈥檚 schools to address violence that seems to be growing among the young 鈥� who lack a memory of the horrific civil war endured by their elders 鈥� and to lay the groundwork for enduring cooperation in future generations.

In 2013-14 Fambul Tok was operating in six out of the country鈥檚 14 districts. In each of the six districts they have an office staffed by four, plus a security person. At its national headquarters there are 18 staffers. Catalyst for Peace remains the main funder for Fambul Tok, including funding Ashwood鈥檚 and Mansaray鈥檚 studies at SPI 2014. 听鈥� Bonnie Price Lofton

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