On the eve of the International Day of Peace, some 100 Afghan street children flew kites adorned with doves and olive branches atop a hill overlooking Kabul today, marking the closing stages of a United Nations-backed campaign to halt violence in the war-torn nation. Today’s event, on Nader Khan hill, was one of many around […]

Gladys Staines – nee Weatherhead – was born in 1951. She grew up at Peaks Crossing, just outside of Ipswich, in South East Queensland. Gladys was brought up in Brethren circles and became a devout Christian. After school, Gladys studied nursing in Ipswich and completed her midwifery in Launceston. Gladys met her husband Graham on […]

I am floating a few feet off the ground today even though my plane from Thailand touched down securely last week. The reason for my euphoria: To watch the remarkable progress in the project we are supporting in northern Thailand. I first related the story of Kru Nam in my book, Not for Sale. She […]

In 1994, decades of suspicion and hate erupted into a frenzy of killing in Rwanda, resulting in the death of almost one million people over 100 days. As in all cases of genocide and war, the survivors – both victims and perpetrators – are left with a terrible legacy of loss, pain and shame. In […]

This documentary offers a gripping and powerful picture of the traditional processes that have helped build peace in Bougainville after the civil war. It provides a wonderful complement to the articles in this edition of Restorative Justice Online because it allows the viewer to watch the processes described and explored in those articles. http://www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2007/august07/vrbreakingbows

The Bougainville Project of PEACE Foundation Melanesia Founded in 1995, PEACE Foundation Melanesia is a grassroots organization working on peacemaking in Papua New Guinea. Much of its early work focused on Bougainville training village leaders to be peacemakers. http://www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2007/august07/backgroundpaper

I normally buy my coffee from Bruno and Maria – authentic Italian organic Australian family owned coffee, freshly roasted and delivered straight from the plantation to my door. but this morning i had run out, so i went to visit Tom, my local grocery store guy. after staring at the wall of coffee for a […]

http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2007/07/24/religious/index.html?source=cmailer

An interview with Joel Suár If you thought there were no churches in Cuba, think again. Joel Suárez of the MLK Centre in Havana reveals the active role of religion in social change in Cuba…The Martin Luther King Center in Havana, Cuba, is at the forefront of promoting Christian social responsibility and progressive change throughout […]

The 2007 Michael Sattler Peace Prize has been awarded to the “Tent of Nations – People Building Bridges” project in Palestine. The German Mennonite Peace Committee gave the prize in recognition of the creative and non-violent solutions the Christian Palestinian Nassar family uses in their struggle against encroaching illegal colonization. In the Middle East conflict, […]

Professor Kevin Clements is a lifelong pacifist whose conviction for his work takes him to some of the world’s most dangerous places. In the past, this has meant making trips to Cambodia, Indonesia and Burundi. http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s1963870.htm

Today’s world seems to have gone insane in the name of God. Violence and extremism take centre-stage in international news and much of it speaks in religious terms. Nevertheless, there are examples of leaders who, in the midst of ongoing conflict, have renounced their former violence in order to engage their enemies using non-violent means […]