Return-Path: Received: from imo-m25.mx.aol.com (imo-m25.mx.aol.com [64.12.137.6]) by xserve1.systame.net (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id m5IDtgk5023021 for ; Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:55:47 -0400 (EDT) Received: from Ceceyocum@aol.com by imo-m25.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r9.4.) id t.d57.1187e31d (30739) for ; Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:44:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Ceceyocum@aol.com Message-ID: Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:44:30 EDT Subject: Fwd: Colombia To: admin@seym.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_boundary" X-Mailer: Thunderbird - Mac OS X sub 310 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.2 required=12.0 tests=BAYES_00,HTML_MESSAGE, MIME_QP_LONG_LINE,SPF_PASS autolearn=no version=3.2.5 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on xserve1.systame.net Status: --part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_boundary Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_alt_boundary" --part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_alt_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Lyn I was wondering if you would be able to send this out? I didn't clearly request that in my previous message to you. Also if you could add what I have below. Gracias Cece I am back in the US since last night and getting ready to go back in July for the sample workshops. I met a lot of wonderful people in Colombia who are working for peace and justice. And there were many people we met who are interested in what FPT is doing with the trauma healing work. We hope to build the networks with the other Colombian groups and resources on this issue. This program will be unique I think because of the experiential nature of these workshops. The AVP program with the exmilitary young people was very well received. I was interviewing some of them afterward. One young man said he would divide up his life as "before PAV (AVP in Spanish) and after PAV." One of the things I got from them is that these kinds of programs help them look inward and look at their own reactions and their own strengths for rebuilding their lives. The Taller de Vida program said that even though they have many successes in working with the youth, they lose too many young people who return to warfare. My hope is that PAV can help in developing youth facilitators who can reach other youth. A number of the young men said they felt happy when they were able to disuade someone else from getting involved in armed conflict. I also think the trauma healing work with the displaced people will also be very helpful. One man said that many displaced people do not even understand why they were displaced. They have taken their displacement very personally thinking "What did I do wrong?" "Should I have taken up guns as well?" "Is God punishing me for something I did wrong?" I hope the program will be helpful for the participants to understand that these are normal reactions to trauma as we work through the process of healing. I have another report about Colombia I can send out from the vantage point of young Colombian CO. Thanks for everyone's support. Cece ************** Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) --part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_alt_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Lyn

I was wondering if you would be able to send this out? I didn't clearly requ= est that in my previous message to you. Also if you could add what I have be= low.

Gracias


Cece

I am back in the US since last night and getting ready to go back in July fo= r the sample workshops. I met a lot of wonderful people in Colombia who are=20= working for peace and justice. And there were many people we met who are int= erested in what FPT is doing with the trauma healing work. We hope to build=20= the networks with the other Colombian groups and resources on this issue. Th= is program will be unique I think because of the experiential nature of thes= e workshops.

The AVP program with the exmilitary young people was very well received. I w= as interviewing some of them afterward. One young man said he would divide u= p his life as "before PAV (AVP in Spanish) and after PAV." One of the things= I got from them is that these kinds of programs help them look inward and l= ook at their own reactions and their own strengths for rebuilding their live= s.  The Taller de Vida program said that even though they have many su= ccesses in working with the youth, they lose too many young people who retur= n to warfare. My hope is that PAV can help in developing youth facilitators=20= who can reach other youth. A number of the young men said they felt happy wh= en they were able to disuade someone else from getting involved in armed con= flict.

I also think the trauma healing work with the displaced people will also be=20= very helpful. One man said that many displaced people do not even understand= why they were displaced. They have taken their displacement very personally= thinking "What did I do wrong?" "Should I have taken up guns as well?" "Is=20= God punishing me for something I did wrong?" I hope the program will be help= ful for the participants to understand that these are normal reactions to tr= auma as we work through the process of healing.

I have another report about Colombia I can send out from the vantage point o= f young Colombian CO.

Thanks for everyone's support.

Cece


**************
Gas prices getting you down? Sea= rch AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars.
(http://autos.aol.com/u= sed?ncid=3Daolaut00050000000007) --part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_alt_boundary-- --part1_d57.1187e31d.358a6b3e_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from FWM-D42 (fwm-d42.webmail.aol.com [205.188.162.18]) by cia-ma03.mx.aol.com (v121.5) with ESMTP id MAILCIAMA033-9115485676e7123; Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:21:27 -0400 To: ceceyocum@aol.com, admin@seym.org Subject: Re: Colombia Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:21:26 -0400 X-AOL-IP: 190.27.2.41 In-Reply-To: <8CA95EF723B55C8-17AC-14CB@mblk-d28.sysops.aol.com> X-MB-Message-Source: WebUI MIME-Version: 1.0 From: ceceyocum@aol.com X-MB-Message-Type: User Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="--------MB_8CA9DD365B79F9F_ECC_AD7_FWM-D42.sysops.aol.com" X-Mailer: AOL Webmail 37080-STANDARD Received: from 190.27.2.41 by FWM-D42.sysops.aol.com (205.188.162.18) with HTTP (WebMailUI); Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:21:26 -0400 Message-Id: <8CA9DD36579A2FD-ECC-57B@FWM-D42.sysops.aol.com> ----------MB_8CA9DD365B79F9F_ECC_AD7_FWM-D42.sysops.aol.com Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Lyn This is a report that Val Liveoak, who is coordinator of the Latin American=20= Working Group wrote up. I am using some of the report for you all and adding= some of my own comments as well. In Nicaragua, ProNica, (an organization sponsored by SEYM) had sponsored AVP= =20 work in the late 90s. I was unable to find a current contact with the previo= us=20 AVP coordinator, and some of the work, especially in Matagalpa (northern=20 Nicaragua) seemed to depend on the presence of Kit and Ev Pilgrim, Friends w= ho=20 have visited the country regularly. Kit went on the 2003 LAC team to Colombi= a.=20 Ev became quite ill on this trip and says she doesn=C2=B4t think she can ret= urn to=20 the country. I talked with Kit and Ev about FPT possibly providing followup=20= for=20 the work they had been doing and they said they would be grateful if we coul= d=20 take it on. I co-facilitated a Basic Workshop in Managua which they had plan= ned,=20 along with one previously trained Nicaraguan facilitator.=20 The workshop was held in the office of a women=C2=B4s clinic and outreach pr= ogram in=20 one of the poorer neighborhoods of Managua. The workshop participants were f= rom=20 organizations including the women=C2=B4s group, a group of lesbian women, a=20= group of=20 transgendered people, the YMCA=C2=B4s youth workers and the SOS Aldeas (a pr= ogram of=20 orphanages or family homes for children). Remarkably, this mixed group did n= ot=20 seem to have difficulties working together. The workshop went well, but beca= use=20 of incomplete attendance, only eight people (of 13) completed the entire=20 workshop. All said they wanted more AVP, and needed it for both personal gro= wth=20 and to help their communities. In the neighborhood where we met, there were=20 problems of gang and other criminal activities, and significant domestic=20 violence.=20 In Nicaragua, I (Val) also met with Lillian Hall, the=C2=A0 director of Quak= er House and=20 representative of ProNica, who asked that FPT help reinvigorate the AVP work= .=20 She has 18 years of experience in the country and a large network of contact= s.=20 Two facilitators who work in other poor neighborhoods came to meet me, and s= aid=20 they were hoping for more opportunities to continue AVP. (They said they wou= ld=20 bring me a proposal, but did not as yet.) Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I think this would be very exciting to explore how F= PT could help AVP get reinvigorated and be helpfil to ProNica. Thanks Lillia= n!=C2=A0 In Costa Rica, the Friends of Peace Center, started by Quakers and financed=20= to=20 some degree by the connecting Casa Ridgway, a Quaker hostel, also hoped to=20 revive an AVP program that has not been active for several (many?) years.=20 Previously trained facilitators are not active nor in contact with the curre= nt=20 staff and Board of the Center. Few of the staff or Board members are Quakers= ,=20 although some key members attend the small Quaker meeting. The Center is=20 beginning a 10 month program of training Human Rights promoters, and want AV= P to=20 be a part of their training. Additionally there is a longstanding AVP program that is part of the work of= =20 CEPPA, the Center for Peace Education, and completely unconnected to Quakers= .=20 AVP is only one part of CEPPA=C2=B4s work, which also includes Creative Conf= lict=20 Resolution, Mediation and other aspects. CEPPA has a contract with the Minis= try=20 of Education to provide training in the 50 most at-risk high schools in the=20 country, as well as doing prison programs and working with groups of battere= d=20 women. (I have had sporadic contact with CEPPA=C2=B4s Director, Celina Garci= a, since=20 the early 90s.) CEPPA has trained AVPers and CCRers throughout Costa Rica an= d=20 other parts of the region, including El Salvador and Colombia.=20 Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I visited Casa Ridgeway many years ago and again I l= ike the idea of FPT being able to work with other Quaker groups, especially=20= since we are so small. In Colombia, Cece and I met several times with the AVP team who developed a=20 lengthy and detailed presentation of their work and plans for the future. Th= ey=20 hope to develop four regional programs=E2=80=94FPT has agreed to support the= Central=20 region which includes Bogot=C3=A1, and the Northern Coast region (the states= of=20 Cordoba, Sucre, Magdalena and Valledupar), where there has been, and continu= es=20 to be significant armed conflict, paramilitary and guerrilla activity, drug=20 trafficking, and massive displacement. Work in the other two regions, the ar= eas=20 around Medell=C3=ADn and Cal=C3=AD, have been supported by grants, solicited= by the AVP=20 team, from the World Council of Churches, the Women=C2=B4s Ecumenical Networ= k for=20 Peace, and some orders of nuns, among other groups.=20 Cece and I also met with the Conscientious Objectors Collective, (the source= of=20 the analysis in the article on Colombia that I sent previously). We went to=20= one=20 of their workshops for young men about their options regarding military serv= ice,=20 but the youths did not show up due to scheduling snafus. As I have reported=20 before, this is a group of very committed young men and women, who are very=20 interested in the personal nonviolence that AVP offers and want to add train= ing=20 on civil resistance to it. They use exercises from AVP and from other source= s in=20 their work with students in five high schools, and one of their leaders is a= =20 member of the AVP coordination team. Along with members of the AVP team, Cece and I met with the AFSC staff in=20 Bogot=C3=A1. AFSC is in the process of approving a 2+ year pilot program of=20= work with=20 youth groups of sports fans (or fanatics), called Barras Bravas=E2=80=94the=20= staff call=20 them =E2=80=9Cyouth identity groups=E2=80=9D. These groups have become infam= ous for riots and=20 fights at soccer games, and encounter increasing police repression. The yout= h=20 are typically at-risk for gang and other delinquent activities, but generall= y=20 are not yet organized to undertake criminal activities, and the goal of the=20 project is to find ways to integrate them into their communities and redirec= t=20 their activities into more socially useful ones through art, community=20 campaigns, income generating projects and so forth. They are excited about A= VP=20 being part of their efforts, and hope to begin workshops in the fall. They=20 expect the project to be a model for other AFSC work with youth groups in=20 Colombia and internationally. Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D Again I like the idea of FPT being able to work with= other Quaker groups. In addition, I had a long talk with a psychologist wor= king with AFSC who had done her thesis work with excombatant youth. (As you=20= may know almost fifty percent of the population is under the age of 19). She= found that many of the youth had joined the guerillas and paramilitaries to= escape family violence. That was a new connection for me.=C2=A0=20 The AVP team has been in contact with Justapaz, a Mennonite program, and pla= ns=20 for Alba and me to co-facilitate a workshop with staff in late July or early= =20 August. Cece and I and a member of the AVP team met with and later co-facilitated a=20 Basic workshop with staff and participants of Taller de Vida, a program work= ing=20 with youth who are =E2=80=9Cdesvinculados=E2=80=9D (minors who have left gue= rrilla or=20 paramilitary groups) and youth from poor neighborhoods who are at risk of=20 joining armed groups. The workshop was very interesting, and the participati= on=20 was much higher than we expected, because, we think, the young people have=20 already been involved in extensive work with TdeV. The major problem we=20 encountered was with role-plays which several of the small groups wanted to=20= turn=20 into dramatic (and sometimes very abstract) productions, drawing on the thea= ter=20 work with which they are familiar. The young people were very excited by the= =20 things they learned about nonviolence and very interested in continuing with= =20 AVP.=20 Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D This was a very exciting weekend for me. When I look= ed ar these young people, I would have never suspected some of them were ex=20= combatants. They seemed like normal teenagers. However, it was very evident=20= they had seen more than most teens. When asked about causes of violence, the= y came up with the most sophosticated answers I had ever heard even from adu= lts. Thye also talked about resiliency and focusing on stengths. I was able=20= to do a couple of interviews with some of the youth as well, which=C2=A0I ho= pe to get typed up later. The countryside is absolutely magnificent. We were at a YMCA camp in the mou= ntains. Very lush with fruit and flowers. What a paradise this could be. Als= o many of the people are so physically beautiful and fit. You can=C2=B4t kee= p your eyes off them. Cece and I also worked extensively with Alba Arrieta, the AVP coordinator, o= n=20 planning the upcoming workshops based on HROC. Although we have been frustra= ted=20 at not being able to bring African facilitators to lead the workshops, we us= ed=20 the manual to develop two demonstration workshops which we plan to offer in=20= July=20 in the North Coast and in Bogot=C3=A1. We anticipate the participants in the= se=20 workshops will include displaced people, AVP facilitators, psychologists and= =20 social workers and others, and expect to get a lot of feedback about whether= the=20 HROC-style approach is needed and of use in the Colombian context.=20 Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I will be going back in July for the sample trauma h= ealing workshops. We are looking for another title for the workshop. =C2=A0In addition I went to Meeting for Worship here in Bogota amd plan to g= o back in July. Will back in Tampa soon. Thanks again for all your support. Paz. Cece ----------MB_8CA9DD365B79F9F_ECC_AD7_FWM-D42.sysops.aol.com Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Lyn


This is a report that Val Liveoak, who is coordinator of the Latin American=20= Working Group wrote up. I am using some of the report for you all and adding= some of my own comments as well.

In Nicaragua, ProNica, (an organization sponsored by SEYM) had sponsored AVP=
work in the late 90s. I was unable to find a current contact with the previo= us
AVP coordinator, and some of the work, especially in Matagalpa (northern Nicaragua) seemed to depend on the presence of Kit and Ev Pilgrim, Friends w= ho
have visited the country regularly. Kit went on the 2003 LAC team to Colombi= a.
Ev became quite ill on this trip and says she doesn=C2=B4t think she can ret= urn to
the country. I talked with Kit and Ev about FPT possibly providing followup=20= for
the work they had been doing and they said they would be grateful if we coul= d
take it on. I co-facilitated a Basic Workshop in Managua which they had plan= ned,
along with one previously trained Nicaraguan facilitator.

The workshop was held in the office of a women=C2=B4s clinic and outreach pr= ogram in
one of the poorer neighborhoods of Managua. The workshop participants were f= rom
organizations including the women=C2=B4s group, a group of lesbian women, a=20= group of
transgendered people, the YMCA=C2=B4s youth workers and the SOS Aldeas (a pr= ogram of
orphanages or family homes for children). Remarkably, this mixed group did n= ot
seem to have difficulties working together. The workshop went well, but beca= use
of incomplete attendance, only eight people (of 13) completed the entire workshop. All said they wanted more AVP, and needed it for both personal gro= wth
and to help their communities. In the neighborhood where we met, there were=20=
problems of gang and other criminal activities, and significant domestic violence.

In Nicaragua, I (Val) also met with Lillian Hall, the  director of Quak= er House and
representative of ProNica, who asked that FPT help reinvigorate the AVP work= .
She has 18 years of experience in the country and a large network of contact= s.
Two facilitators who work in other poor neighborhoods came to meet me, and s= aid
they were hoping for more opportunities to continue AVP. (They said they wou= ld
bring me a proposal, but did not as yet.)

Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I think this would be very exciting to explore how F= PT could help AVP get reinvigorated and be helpfil to ProNica. Thanks Lillia= n! 

In Costa Rica, the Friends of Peace Center, started by Quakers and financed=20= to
some degree by the connecting Casa Ridgway, a Quaker hostel, also hoped to <= br> revive an AVP program that has not been active for several (many?) years. Previously trained facilitators are not active nor in contact with the curre= nt
staff and Board of the Center. Few of the staff or Board members are Quakers= ,
although some key members attend the small Quaker meeting. The Center is beginning a 10 month program of training Human Rights promoters, and want AV= P to
be a part of their training.

Additionally there is a longstanding AVP program that is part of the work of=
CEPPA, the Center for Peace Education, and completely unconnected to Quakers= .
AVP is only one part of CEPPA=C2=B4s work, which also includes Creative Conf= lict
Resolution, Mediation and other aspects. CEPPA has a contract with the Minis= try
of Education to provide training in the 50 most at-risk high schools in the=20=
country, as well as doing prison programs and working with groups of battere= d
women. (I have had sporadic contact with CEPPA=C2=B4s Director, Celina Garci= a, since
the early 90s.) CEPPA has trained AVPers and CCRers throughout Costa Rica an= d
other parts of the region, including El Salvador and Colombia.

Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I visited Casa Ridgeway many years ago and again I l= ike the idea of FPT being able to work with other Quaker groups, especially=20= since we are so small.



In Colombia, Cece and I met several times with the AVP team who developed a=20=
lengthy and detailed presentation of their work and plans for the future. Th= ey
hope to develop four regional programs=E2=80=94FPT has agreed to support the= Central
region which includes Bogot=C3=A1, and the Northern Coast region (the states= of
Cordoba, Sucre, Magdalena and Valledupar), where there has been, and continu= es
to be significant armed conflict, paramilitary and guerrilla activity, drug=20=
trafficking, and massive displacement. Work in the other two regions, the ar= eas
around Medell=C3=ADn and Cal=C3=AD, have been supported by grants, solicited= by the AVP
team, from the World Council of Churches, the Women=C2=B4s Ecumenical Networ= k for
Peace, and some orders of nuns, among other groups.

Cece and I also met with the Conscientious Objectors Collective, (the source= of
the analysis in the article on Colombia that I sent previously). We went to=20= one
of their workshops for young men about their options regarding military serv= ice,
but the youths did not show up due to scheduling snafus. As I have reported=20=
before, this is a group of very committed young men and women, who are very=20=
interested in the personal nonviolence that AVP offers and want to add train= ing
on civil resistance to it. They use exercises from AVP and from other source= s in
their work with students in five high schools, and one of their leaders is a=
member of the AVP coordination team.



Along with members of the AVP team, Cece and I met with the AFSC staff in Bogot=C3=A1. AFSC is in the process of approving a 2+ year pilot program of=20= work with
youth groups of sports fans (or fanatics), called Barras Bravas=E2=80=94the=20= staff call
them =E2=80=9Cyouth identity groups=E2=80=9D. These groups have become infam= ous for riots and
fights at soccer games, and encounter increasing police repression. The yout= h
are typically at-risk for gang and other delinquent activities, but generall= y
are not yet organized to undertake criminal activities, and the goal of the=20=
project is to find ways to integrate them into their communities and redirec= t
their activities into more socially useful ones through art, community
campaigns, income generating projects and so forth. They are excited about A= VP
being part of their efforts, and hope to begin workshops in the fall. They <= br> expect the project to be a model for other AFSC work with youth groups in Colombia and internationally.

Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D Again I like the idea of FPT being able to work with= other Quaker groups. In addition, I had a long talk with a psychologist wor= king with AFSC who had done her thesis work with excombatant youth. (As you=20= may know almost fifty percent of the population is under the age of 19). She= found that many of the youth had joined the guerillas and paramilitaries to= escape family violence. That was a new connection for me. 


The AVP team has been in contact with Justapaz, a Mennonite program, and pla= ns
for Alba and me to co-facilitate a workshop with staff in late July or early=
August.

Cece and I and a member of the AVP team met with and later co-facilitated a=20=
Basic workshop with staff and participants of Taller de Vida, a program work= ing
with youth who are =E2=80=9Cdesvinculados=E2=80=9D (minors who have left gue= rrilla or
paramilitary groups) and youth from poor neighborhoods who are at risk of joining armed groups. The workshop was very interesting, and the participati= on
was much higher than we expected, because, we think, the young people have <= br> already been involved in extensive work with TdeV. The major problem we
encountered was with role-plays which several of the small groups wanted to=20= turn
into dramatic (and sometimes very abstract) productions, drawing on the thea= ter
work with which they are familiar. The young people were very excited by the=
things they learned about nonviolence and very interested in continuing with=
AVP.

Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D This was a very exciting weekend for me. When I look= ed ar these young people, I would have never suspected some of them were ex=20= combatants. They seemed like normal teenagers. However, it was very evident=20= they had seen more than most teens. When asked about causes of violence, the= y came up with the most sophosticated answers I had ever heard even from adu= lts. Thye also talked about resiliency and focusing on stengths. I was able=20= to do a couple of interviews with some of the youth as well, which I ho= pe to get typed up later.

The countryside is absolutely magnificent. We were at a YMCA camp in the mou= ntains. Very lush with fruit and flowers. What a paradise this could be. Als= o many of the people are so physically beautiful and fit. You can=C2=B4t kee= p your eyes off them.


Cece and I also worked extensively with Alba Arrieta, the AVP coordinator, o= n
planning the upcoming workshops based on HROC. Although we have been frustra= ted
at not being able to bring African facilitators to lead the workshops, we us= ed
the manual to develop two demonstration workshops which we plan to offer in=20= July
in the North Coast and in Bogot=C3=A1. We anticipate the participants in the= se
workshops will include displaced people, AVP facilitators, psychologists and=
social workers and others, and expect to get a lot of feedback about whether= the
HROC-style approach is needed and of use in the Colombian context.

Cece=C2=B4s comments=3D I will be going back in July for the sample trauma h= ealing workshops. We are looking for another title for the workshop.

 In addition I went to Meeting for Worship here in Bogota amd plan to g= o back in July. Will back in Tampa soon. Thanks again for all your support.<= br>
Paz.

Cece
Get the Moviefone Toolbar. S= howtimes, theaters, movie news, & more!
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