Author Archive
Friday, November 7th, 2008
For John McKendy
John McKendy, a regular reader of this blog and friend of mine, was killed on October 31, allegedly by his daughter’s estranged ex-husband. John had come to Burundi the last two summers as a workcamper with the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI), and in particular helped to build the clinic for the Friends Women’s Association. [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Travels in Kenya, Uganda
So it has been a while since my last post, first of all because of a month of traveling during which time I didn’t have internet, and then due to the flu which kept me rather occupied (sleeping) for the past week.
The first week of my travels was to the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Peeling tomatoes
Well it’s been almost a month since I last wrote, which is perhaps a sort of unplanned summer vacation from blogville. But I haven’t been just sitting around watching the Jacaranda trees bloom. I’ve been working on grants of course, and also did some writing and interviews for AGLI’s newsletter Peaceways, which this quarter focuses on Burundi [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Jérome’s Story
Over the past month I have listened to the stories of more than 50 people in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and here in Burundi. They were people who had lived through conflict and had participated in trauma healing and reconcilaition workshops as part of our “Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC) Program. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
Not Development, Transformation
In my recent travels, I had the chance to learn more about the work of AGLI as well as other organizations involved in peace and development work. It also gave me a chance to reflect on the 11 weeks that I have spent so far in Africa. That is just a short time of course, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Friday, August 1st, 2008
“We can be denied everything else, but we need peace.”
I just wanted to share a few more themes that cropped up in my interviews with HROC participants in DRC that I found instructive.
In the Mugungu I IDP camp, I sat with a group of HROC participants in a room made of plastic tarp. As we talked, gravel made from lava crunched underfoot [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Monday, July 28th, 2008
Trauma and Healing in the Congo
So after more travels than I expected (with a surprise trip around Burundi tacked on to my original plan) I am now back in Bujumbura, with computer access which means I will hopefully be able to a little more editing than my last post (sorry!) as well as include some pictures (top to bottom: [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Conflict in Rwanda/ North Kivu
So the past week has been quite busy, as I traveled to Gisenyi in northwest Rwanda then across the Rwanda/DRC border to Goma, from where I visited two internally-displaced persons (IDP) camps and the town of Sake. (For a map of the area, as well as an interesting article about gorillas and charcoal, see [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
Report from Kigali
I’m writing from an internet cafe outside Kigali, where the midi music is blasting, and I only have time for a quick update. Next week I will be headed to Gisenyi in northwest Rwanda and then across the border to Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I took the bus up from Bujumbura [...]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Days of Independence
A quick run down of what I’ve been up to lately. First, the rest of the story of Burundian Independence Day, when we went to a reception hosted by the President. The reception was held on the golf course (where I often go running) with an open bar and the wonderful drummers that were also [...]
