/now/peacebuilder Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:44:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 /now/peacebuilder/2010/12/laura-brenneman/ Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:51:50 +0000 http://emu.edu/blog/peacebuilder/?p=749 Laura Brenneman ’96, MA ’00, PhD

Bluffton, Ohio

After completing a bachelor’s degree at EMU in 1996, Laura Brenneman joined Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Chicago where she was an activist for human rights through 1998. She was among delegations that visited the US Congress, advocating for a change in foreign policy in Latin America to reduce human rights abuses. She also organized delegations to Cuba and Guatemala, and she “went after Nike, The Gap, Disney, and other corporations with sweatshops around the world.”

Today, as a professor who explores the intersection between religion and conflict transformation work, Laura values the way CJP is willing to deal with the “tension” between the concepts of peace and justice. Pushing for justice tends to cause disharmony, at least in the short term, she says. “Folks who feel comfortable with the way things are will see you as an irritant if you point out that the existing structure is unjust, that oppression is structuralized.”

Laura is not the type to parse her words. She views the lack of access to health care for all US citizens as “scandalous,” adding that it is “egregious to be willing to throw away the most vulnerable in our society.” Laura supports activism more than engaging in it these days: “It takes a lot of time to be an activist, and I can’t do my teaching job and that too. I have to trust that other people are doing what I can’t do.” Concurrently with earning her MA at CJP, Laura earned a second MA at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, followed by a PhD from the University of Durham in the United Kingdom.

In her classes, she never misses the opportunity to highlight “the economic disparity between the rich and the poor, and what systems lead us to this disparity.” But she also tells her students not to feel that the problems are so big, they are impossible to solve. “The trick is not to be immobilized by the fact that we can’t do everything or see quick results. I tell my students to start at the local level by breaking down the barriers in our own community between the rich and the poor and by working to get food, shelter and clothes to those who need it.” Laura is also working to establish restorative justice and mediation programs in the Bluffton area.

]]> /now/peacebuilder/2010/12/daagya-dick/ Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:38:39 +0000 http://emu.edu/blog/peacebuilder/?p=740 Daagya Dick, MA ’00

McPherson, Kansas

When Daagya Dick applied to enter CTP in 1996, she recalls that speaking a language in addition to English was an entrance requirement. (That requirement was quickly dropped, since it eliminated many prospective students.) Raised as a Mennonite in California, Daagya became fluent in Spanish while on a Bethel College (Kansas) program in Mexico.

In 1998, Daagya took her CTP lessons to Guatemala, where she did her practicum with Mennonite Central Committee, working to build a regional network for peace and justice. The idea was to offer trainings close to home for aspiring peacebuilders in Central America, including southern Mexico. She worked there until 2003, marrying a Guatemalan lawyer, Juan Coy, who was an indigenous person. The couple shared a strong interest in human rights, and they planned to remain in Guatemala to work for greater justice.

The birth of their first child, Josue, changed their plans dramatically. Mother and son had almost died during the birth, and physicians feared that Josue might need on-going sophisticated medical care, available in the United States but not in Guatemala. The family quickly moved to Kansas, where Daagya had graduated from college and had close family members.

Unable to work as a lawyer in the United States, Juan has taken primary responsibility for the care of Josue and their second child, Diego, while Daagya teaches Spanish in the local school system. She also runs the school’s program for “at risk” students. Now that Josue is a healthy second grader, and Diego is in kindergarten, the family is looking to return to Latin America with Mennonite Central Committee before the boys finish elementary school. The boys have been raised speaking Spanish at home.

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