Common Ground Newsletters-Winter 2003-2004

Dear Friend,

Social Entrepreneurship
We at Search for Common Ground see ourselves as social entrepreneurs. Unlike business entrepreneurs, however, our bottom line is not to acquire wealth, but to transform how the world deals with conflict. For my colleagues and me, SFCG provides an organizational base – a place to stand – from which we carry out projects that give concrete form to our vision.

Burundi
Staff members at Studio Ijambo are a good example of social entrepreneurs. Ethnically-mixed, they produce 15 hours a week of original radio programming to promote peaceful resolution of conflict. Since 1999, the Studio has turned out a weekly series about heroes – Hutus who have saved the lives of Tutsis and Tutsis who have saved Hutus. The idea is to redefine the meaning of heroism so that it transcends ethnic differences. For three days in April, we sponsored a Heroes Summit in Bujumbura that honored hundreds of heroes from Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, and Nigeria. Here are two of their stories:

• Rebecca Hatungima
  Rebecca is a Tutsi. In 1993, she shielded 41 Hutus from certain death at the hands of a rampaging Tutsi mob. According to Rebecca, “I did this because I’m convinced that human life is sacred, and that no one would have benefited from the death of my neighbors. I did not protect them because I am a Tutsi or a Hutu. I did it because morality obliged me to act. We should not put forward our own ethnic group, but rather our humanity. We are created by the same God. We are the same people.”



• Fulgence, Léon, & Didier
  In 1997, Hutu militants attacked a school in southern Burundi and demanded that the ethnically-mixed student body break down into ethnic groups. Knowing that anyone identified as a Tutsi would be killed, the students refused. Even after the attackers began shooting and hacking the students with machetes, the young people refused to reveal their ethnicity. The attackers were furious and threw a grenade. In all, 42 students – Hutu and Tutsi – died. Fulgence, Léon, and Didier survived. “My ethnic group is the human race,” says Fulgence, “We stayed together to the end. No one sold out the other.” Asked why, Léon (who was badly injured) answers, “It depends on a person’s heart. A person with a fragile heart could not do it.” Didier, now 17, states, “I think that it should be an example to everyone that people of different ethnic groups can live together, and would even die for each other.”

Fallout
The Heroes Summit was successful beyond expectations. About 90 news articles resulted, along with many radio and TV pieces. A high school teacher in St. Louis, MO contacted us to say he plans to integrate material from the Summit into his World Religions class. A Burundian in the US was so moved that he vowed to mobilize the expatriate community in support of the peace process. A Jewish woman who has been involved with recognizing Righteous Gentiles – who saved the lives of Jews in Europe during World War II – said in a note, “Thank you for your inspiration. You reminded me of our common humanity and of the need to stop genocide wherever it happens.” A Burundian secondary school director wrote:

Previously, to say that someone had saved your life during the crisis meant exposing him to dangers from people from his own ethnic group, who would consider him to be a traitor. These good-willed people had to live in the shadows until now, even though their country needed them. The Summit has thus had an immeasurable impact. The world is full of people famous for their bad deeds. There are others who act with their heart and faith -- but we hardly know them. What Studio Ijambo has done is to take these numerous heroes from the shadows and present them in front of the nation as the genuine flames of peace and reconciliation for Burundi.

Societal Conflict Resolution
Burundi is the country where – with funding from the US, UK, and Swedish governments – we have gone the furthest in applying our methodology across an entire society. Our radio programs reach 90% of the population; we work with hundreds of women’s associations; we sponsor numerous projects to aid youth who have been involved in the violence; and we make wide use of music and culture. Here is what two USAID officials have said about our work:

You guys shouldn't be so modest about what you have accomplished in Burundi. Your impact on the country has been significant throughout the peace process and in opening avenues for media and peacebuilding.

I firmly believe that you have been responsible for expanding the Burundian lexicon to include the language of peace and reconciliation. – Roger Conrad

Diverse Toolbox
Societal conflict resolution, in our view, requires a broad array of operational methods. These include well-known techniques, like mediation, facilitation, and training – and less traditional ones, involving media, culture, and sports. In recent months, our social entrepreneurs in Burundi have added an imaginative new tool: the reggae-based PSA.

Ziggy
In Burundi, as elsewhere, pop stars often are more influential than politicians. Particularly popular is Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley, the late reggae singer. Ziggy is a huge star himself, and he agreed to record for us 11 radio and TV public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs saturate Burundi’s airwaves and stress the need to end violence, to engage in dialogue, and to respect women.

Awards
Since 1998, we have presented Common Ground Awards to honor outstanding achievement in conflict resolution and peacemaking. Past winners include political leaders like Jimmy Carter and George Mitchell, religious figures like Desmond Tutu, musicians and actors like Daniel Barenboim and Edward Norton, and authors like Deborah Tannen, William Ury, and Daniel Yankelovich.

Winners
In March, the Austrian Embassy in Washington once again hosted our awards ceremony. James Morrison of the Washington Times described us as “a group of global optimists [who insist] on finding the best in mankind, even as the world struggles with terrorist bombings and civil wars.” The awardees were:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Former Assistant Secretary of State Harold “Hal” Saunders
  
  
• International Diplomacy Award: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vapayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf– for Kashmiri peace efforts
  
  
• International Peacemaking Award: Community of Sant’Egidio– for sustaining the Mozambique peace process and for their peacebuilding work around the world
  
  
• Interfaith Cooperation Award:Imam Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa & Pastor James M. Wuye – for promoting Muslim-Christian understanding in Nigeria
  
  
• Community Peacebuilding Award:Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN) – for interfaith work in North Carolina
  
  
• Sports Diplomacy Award: Breaking the Ice – for a joint Israeli-Palestinian expedition to Antarctica
  
  
• Arts Award: Pontanima Choir – for inter-religious activities in Bosnia
  
  

Awards to Us
In June, our team in the Democratic Republic of Congo won first prize in the OneWorld/UNICEF competition for the best radio program produced by, for, and with children. The winning piece was a 15-minute, magazine-format program that gave voice to Congolese kids affected by war. One of the runners-up was our Studio Ijambo in Burundi.

U.S.-Iran
Since 1996, we have been working to build bridges between Iran and the United States. Even in these difficult times, we persist. Our program is directed by Ambassador (ret.) William Miller and Rebecca Larson, with funding from the Open Society Institute, Rockefeller Financial Services, and the Ploughshares Fund. In January, we arranged for meetings in Washington between Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, and US senators and members of Congress. This was the first visit to Washington by a high-level Iranian since 2001. In April, Bill and Rebecca led two exchange trips to Iran. The first was hosted by Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and it involved American university presidents and student exchange officials. The second brought together exhibit developers from the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco and the Zirakzadeh Science Foundation. The delegations were warmly welcomed and found some like-minded Iranians, as can be seen from the following quotes:

God has invited all nations to search for common ground.– Isfahan University official

We have to look beyond politics and focus on common ground between mankind. All values of people can be the basis for this common ground. We must listen as a prerequisite for understanding, which will allow for tolerance and mutual respect.– Shiraz University official

Morocco
In 2001, we opened an office in Rabat, with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development and from USAID. We operate in a preventive, capacity-building mode to help defuse social conflict. One of our projects involves work in a shantytown in Sidi Yahia. The idea is to overcome the hostility that separates civil society and government officials. Oussama Safa, our Country Director, facilitated a collaborative process and conducted trainings for six civic associations and local authorities. This effort resulted in agreement on building a community center. In April, USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and US Ambassador Thomas Riley inaugurated the Center, which hosts civic groups and provides training, meeting space, and internet access. In the aftermath of last year’s Casablanca bombings – the perpetrators of which came from shantytowns like the one in Sidi Yahia – we hope that this project will become a model for community development in Moroccan slums.

Search-USA In the US, crime and the treatment of criminals are very divisive issues. Four years ago, Wilson Goode, the former Mayor of Philadelphia, asked us to launch a consensus-building process for dealing with ex-offenders after they leave prison. We brought together the district attorney, the public defender, police officers, judges, prison officials, and activists. With facilitation by Marie Williams, John Good, and Roger Conner and funding from the JEHT Foundation, the group agreed on a detailed plan to help ex-prisoners become productive members of their communities. In March, the US Department of Labor gave us a three-year grant to continue the project.

Thank you
We are grateful that people like you choose to invest in our work. Now more than ever, we need support for launching our entrepreneurial activities. To this end, we ask you to contribute to the Peter Constable Fund for New Initiatives – or to Search for Common Ground as a whole.

With best wishes,

John Marks-President