October 4-8, 2007
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

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Pieces of the Coexistence Puzzle: Part II

Creativity, Social Development and Peacebuilding in East Africa

This workshop will focus on projects already underway or currently being envisioned by several of the participants. These include an international school in Kenya, a performance festival in Uganda, an Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Center in Rwanda, and a women’s economic development and conflict transformation project in Tanzania. Participants will briefly share experiences, ideas, and plans.  The group will focus creative thinking on each project, and explore common themes such as issues of gender, the need for partnerships, and possibilities for collaboration.

Questions for Discussion:

• In Uganda (and elsewhere) how can communities be supported to move beyond tendencies of blaming each other toward solving problems and planning for the future?
• How can partners with resources be enlisted to contribute to visions and to help sustain projects designed to bring creative approaches to issues of development and peacebuilding in East Africa?
• How do issues of gender surface in such projects and how can they be productively engaged?
• Could a regional network of artists and peacebuilders function to support the development and implementation of our projects? If so, how?

Background Reading:

On Northern Uganda:

• Executive Summary of a very recent UNHCR report on transitional justice efforts in Northern Uganda
• "Only Peace Can Restore the Confidence of the Displaced" - a report on recent work implemented by the UN and NRC for internally displaced in Northern Uganda
• Excerpt from the Christian Children’s Fund’s Northern Ugandan Humanitarian Situation Assessment Report  Feb 6^th – 16^th 2006

On Kenya:

• Draft proposal for Dunia Moja International School by Kitche Magak, PhD, with Kate Gardner and Jack Ogembo, PhD
• Kisumu Municipal Council – Welcome page http://kisumumillenniumcity.org/

Participants:

• Irenee Bugingo (Facilitator) is a researcher at the Rwandan Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP) where he has published on such topics as the rule of law in Rwanda.  He is a student in the MA Program in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis.
• Leigh Branson (Rapporteur) is an student in the MA Program in Cultural Production at Brandeis University.
• Allison Young (Rapporteur) is an undergraduate Philosophy major at Brandeis University.
• Sarah Bawaya is an employee of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) in Rwanda, a place that works to educate Rwandans on the importance of peaceful social cohesion.  She is a student in the MA Program in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis.
• Josephat Byaruhanga is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Nandita Dinesh is a graduate of Wellesley College and a Watson Fellow.  As a Watson Fellow, Dinesh has traveled to Rwanda, Guatemala, and Northern Ireland to study the role of theatre in societies that have experienced conflict.
• Erik Ehn is a playwright, educator, and theorist of contemporary theatre who currently serves as Dean for the School of Theater at the California Institute for the Arts.  He is also the co-director of the summer Genocide Studies Program in Rwanda.
• Kate Gardner is principal of WorldEnsemble, a studio for creative human interaction.  She has conducted projects and trainings in the United States, Africa, Latin America, and Europe as a creative consultant, artist, and teacher.
• Lyn Haas is an educational consultant, former superintendent of schools in Vermont, and development partner with a women’s organization in Tanzania.
• Linda Jerome is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Kitche Magak is a lecturer at the Maseno University’s departments of Communication & Media Technology and Literature.  He is co-director of BrooKenya!, an intercontinental soap opera created by people in Brooklyn and Kenya.
• Sa-Adatu Maida, from Ghana, is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Abel Mote is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Charles Mulekwa is an award-winning playwright, actor, and director, and is a long-standing member of the National Theatre of Uganda.
• Alex Muya, from Uganda, is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Jacinta Ogolla Odhiambo, from Kenya, is a MA student in the Sustainable International Development Program at Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis.
• Angelique Kanyange Rwiyereka, from Rwanda, is a MS student in International Health Policy and Management at the Heller School, Brandeis.