{"id":17705,"date":"2008-01-31T11:18:04","date_gmt":"2008-01-31T16:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=17705"},"modified":"2013-07-31T15:06:54","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T19:06:54","slug":"making-a-big-difference-in-just-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2008\/making-a-big-difference-in-just-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Big Difference in Just Three Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

In August 2001, Gopar Tapkida, his wife Monica, and three daughters (then ages 9, 5, and 3 months) headed home to Jos, Nigeria, where Tapkida planned to explore ways to apply his newly earned masters degree in conflict transformation<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead they found themselves cowering with 10 other friends and relatives in two small rooms, with no food and little water, as bloody inter-religious riots swirled outside their hiding place.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the rampage subsided, 3,000 in his city were dead. Relatives and friends had lost their property. Some had lost their lives. \u201cEvery knowledge I had about peace disappeared completely,\u201d recalls Tapkida. \u201cYou don\u2019t know where to begin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tapkida\u2019s journey from the depths of numb shock to breaking the cycle of violence is recounted in an earlier issue of Peacebuilder<\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a sequel, here is a report from a recent observer of Tapkida\u2019s work: \u201cWhile at EMU in 2003, I did my practicum under the Mennonite Central Committee<\/a> in Jos, Nigeria, where Gopar Tapkida was heading the peace program,\u201d writes Priscilla A. Adoyo, a 2003 masters in conflict transformation graduate. \u201cIt seemed to me that Gopar was faced with a daunting task, and I really wondered how long it would take before we saw the fruit of his labor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I had the privilege of going back there for my doctoral research last summer [2006], and I was truly amazed at how effective and widespread the trainings in peacebuilding<\/a> had been. There was a remarkable difference in just three years. There is plenty of hope for peacebuilders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tapkida, MA \u201901, and his wife Monica are West Africa regional peace coordinators for Mennonite Central Committee, based in their home country of Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adoyo, a Nigerian who is a PhD candidate at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., adds: \u201cI am eager now to get my studies over and done with, so I can go out there where the real learning takes place!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tapkida will be teaching the course \u201cIdentity and Transformation\u201d with professor Barry Hart<\/a> at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute<\/a> 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n

Article originally published in<\/em> Peacebuilder<\/a> magazine, Winter 2008.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In August 2001, Gopar Tapkida, his wife Monica, and three daughters (then ages 9, 5, and 3 months) headed home to Jos, Nigeria, where Tapkida planned to explore ways to ... read more about Making a Big Difference in Just Three Years<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,12503,264],"tags":[5790,8204,6100,10187,17235],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-17705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-cjp","category-graduate-programs","tag-barry-hart","tag-gopar-tapkida","tag-mennonite-central-committee","tag-peacebuilder","tag-spi"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking a Big Difference in Just Three Years - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2008\/making-a-big-difference-in-just-three-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making a Big Difference in Just Three Years - 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