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Peer Support Can Change the World
Oct 07, 2009
Eric Niragira was just a child when war began in Burundi. His family took refuge in Tanzania, and seeing no other way to survive, Eric joined the rebel forces as a child soldier. After fighting he returned to school, where he continues to study management. Today he is working for peace as the president of the Training Center for Ex-combatants (CEDAC), a Survivor Corps partner organization that helps ex-combatants in Burundi reintegrate and give back to their communities. Eric shared with us his impressions of using Survivor Corps' signature peer support method to help Burundi recover from war.

"Many people underestimate the potential for growth when survivors share past traumatic experiences with others who have been through similar traumas (an approach known as peer support). I witnessed first-hand the enormous potential of peer support when we hosted a recent training seminar for peer educators at CEDAC.

In the seminar, we trained CEDAC leaders from six provinces to use the peer support method developed by Survivor Corps to help survivors heal and rebuild peaceful communities in Burundi. They learned how to use the LUV technique – Listen, Understand, and Validate – to help survivors talk through the pain and loss they experienced during war. They also learned about the Five Steps to Survivorship, developed by Survivor Corps founder and executive director Jerry White, and how to apply them to help victims transform themselves into survivors and leaders. The trainees will return to CEDAC to introduce other members to the peer support method, and form support groups for survivors.

The participants were very enthusiastic about peer support, calling it 'the single best approach to consolidate the social fabric of Burundi.' A sponsor from the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi attended the seminar, and was so impressed that he wants to expand the training to other provinces, creating a peer network of survivors to promote peace and development throughout Burundi.

I am deeply motivated by this method. It shows potential for great impact on the future of Burundi and I'm proud to help spread it throughout the country."

Learn more about peer support

What are the Five Steps to Survivorship?

Learn more about the work of Survivor Corps' and CEDAC in Burundi
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Youth Raise their Voices for Peace in Colombia
Oct 02, 2009
In a tribute to the enduring legacy of Indian spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi, the United Nations voted to establish October 2nd, his birthday, as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi’s successful campaigns for India’s civil rights and national independence inspired future generations to employ nonviolence as a means to pursue social justice and change.

In this spirit, Survivor Corps and the Foundation for Reconciliation in Colombia have partnered to form the Youth Reconciliation Network to teach young people to promote nonviolence. Manuel Hurtado is a member. “Most of all it’s for our Colombia, which suffers everyday from kidnappings, and from a lot of things. We want to be global, and we want to reach far to change all of these problems,” he says.

Over the past 40 years, conflicts between the Colombian government and militant groups have engendered an atmosphere of mistrust and violence. In order to break this cycle, the Youth Reconciliation Network trains conflict survivors, including former combatants, to teach the importance of communication, patience, and forgiveness to Colombian youth, a prime target for guerilla recruitment.

Many of the young people trained in the Youth Reconciliation Network program become leaders in the call to put down arms.

One of them, Wendy Nino, acknowledges that these values are helping to prepare her generation for the future. “The Network…[has] changed the lives of many of the young people that are here. We can see the results achieved by the process we’ve been carrying out in the network. The future is in us, in the youth of the world.”

Watch a video of the Youth Reconciliation Network at work in Colombia

Learn more about Survivor Corps' work to break cycles of violence in Colombia
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It's Time to Ban Cluster Munitions
Sep 22, 2009
This week, Senator Diane Feinstein of California sent a letter to colleagues in the Senate, asking them to join her in calling on President Obama to ban cluster munitions. We’re asking you to help.

Lynn Bradach is a military mom and an outspoken advocate of a ban on cluster munitions. Lynn’s son Travis was a U.S. Marine who was killed by an American cluster bomb in Iraq. “I have learned enough to know that I do not want my country using these weapons to protect me -- or our soldiers…the cost to local civilians is too high and US cluster munitions also directly endanger US troops,” says Lynn.

Cluster munitions are indiscriminate weapons that scatter explosive “bomblets” over a wide area. Many cluster bomblets don't explode on impact, but lie hidden until they're set off by an unsuspecting civilian, sometimes years after conflict has ended. Up to 98% of cluster bomb victims are civilians.

For this reason, 98 countries have already signed the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, manufacture, and trade of these weapons, and provides assistance to survivors, their families, and communities. It is time for the US to join the international community in signing this important treaty. A weapon that causes indiscriminate harm is bad foreign policy, and puts US troops in unnecessary danger.

You can help make sure the US takes this important step. If you are a US citizen, call your senator. Ask him or her to join Sen. Feinstein in calling on Obama to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions. We’ve provided contact information and guidelines on what to say here.

Lynn Bradach photo by Andrea Wright for thestranger.com
Cluster bombs photo by Simon Conway
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Democracy Day : Supporting Peaceful Elections in Burundi
Sep 15, 2009
Today we celebrate International Day of Democracy. In 2009, the world has witnessed struggles to uphold democracy in many nations, but also positive examples like that of El Salvador, where president Mauricio Funes took office in a peaceful transfer of power between two formerly warring parties. In 2010, the citizens of Burundi will vote for their next president.

When war raged in Burundi in the 1990's, Marie Rose fought to protect herself and her children, but her real desire was to work for peace. After the war, Marie Rose joined CEDAC, a Survivor Corps partner organization that helps former combatants reintegrate and give back to their communities. She is now the head of CEDAC's Women Former Combatants Association, and a leader in Burundi's democratic government. "I enjoy working with women at the grassroots level. And I guess people like working with me too because during elections I was elected to the Parliament of Burundi. Now, when I talk about my past suffering it is to dissuade people from fighting."

Survivor Corps has already begun working to support a peaceful election in Burundi in 2010. "Survivors and ex-combatants are the ones who suffered and who have been used to destroy and spread violence. These two groups must call on the government to deliver a message of peace in the election process," says Pierre Claver Nsengiyumva, Burundi Country Program Coordinator for Survivor Corps.

"The future of Burundi depends on the good attitude manifested by people before, during and after elections," adds Eric Niragira, a survivor and president of CEDAC. With the Support of Survivor Corps, the 14,000-member organization is training ex-combatants to act as advocates for peace throughout the election period, and to help facilitate the hand-over of small arms in order to reduce the possibility of violence. By supporting the role of survivors in Burundi's democracy, we can help break cycles of violence and promote peace.

Read Marie Rose's story

Learn more about Survivor Corps' work in Burundi
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Access to Justice a Fundamental Aspect of Disability Rights
Sep 11, 2009
From September 2-4, states parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities met to discuss implementation of the treaty. Survivor Corps attended to ensure that the high standards for human rights set forth in the treaty would be upheld to improve the lives of survivors with disabilities worldwide.

Tirza Leibowitz, Director of Advocacy for Survivor Corps, spoke at a special panel session on equal access to justice for people with disabilities. She challenged leaders to consider the obstacles persons with disabilities might face in the legal system, asking, "How many cases can you think of, in your country, where a person with an intellectual disability has testified in court? ...How about persons who use alternative forms of communication – do they get a fair chance at trial in your country?"

Equal access to justice begins with making courtrooms accessible so that people with disabilities can take the stand, and lawyers with disabilities can argue cases in any courtroom. Sign language translation and material in Braille must be made available so that deaf and blind witnesses can participate in court proceedings. Accommodations must be made in the processes of investigation by police and during court testimony to give people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities a fair chance to tell their story.

Discrimination against people with disabilities occurs frequently, and those affected must be able to successfully defend their rights. Full and equal access to justice is crucial to achieve freedom, human rights and inclusion in society for people with disabilities. Survivor Corps supports programs to increase access to justice, including an accessibility campaign to make sign language interpreters available in police stations in Uganda.

Learn more about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Photo by Leo Reynolds
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