Where : Tampa Friends Meetinghouse : 1502 W. Sligh Ave, Tampa, Fl. 33604

(The Meetinghouse is between Lowry Park Zoo and Rome Ave on Sligh. On the south side of the street next to Pyramid Studios and Gallery. The Meetinghouse sits back from the street and is a small white building.)

When : Saturday August 28th at 10 am

The program in Rwanda and Burundi

 Ten years after Rwanda exploded onto the world stage with the 1994 genocide, in which one million people were killed in three months, the nation is once again at a crossroads. In an innovative -and controversial - effort to bring justice to both the victims and suspected perpetrators of the genocide, the Rwandan government has elected to utilize a traditional form of arbitration known as "gacaca" to sort out many of the lower-level cases. As survivors relive their horrific experiences during hearings in the gacaca courts, the traumas are returning and people are once again struggling to come to terms with terrible memories. When prisoners are returned to their communities, trauma resurfaces and affects both the released prisoners and those who survived.

 In Rwanda, the trauma related to past genocide is piled on top of the many forms of suffering that this nation shares with its neighbors: crushing poverty, a spiraling AIDS epidemic, and aftershocks of civil war, to name just a few.

 Cecilia Yocum, as part of Friends Peace Teams, traveled to Rwanda and Burundi and will give us an update on efforts in those countries to bring about trauma healing and reduce further violence. The Quaker churches in Rwanda and Burundi have begun joint projects with the African Great Lakes Initiative, part of Friends Peace Teams, bringing trauma healing services as well as the highly successful Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) to Rwanda and Burundi. We'll also hear the inspiring stories of those who survived and went on to develop peace and reconciliation programs within their countries.

 In Rwanda Cecilia worked training facilitators for Trauma Healing Works, a trauma healing service, and developing workshop sessions. She reported, 'My experience in Rwanda reaffirms my belief that the way to make changes from trauma, especially in situations where there has been war, civil unrest or genocide, etc., is not with individual counseling, although some people may need that as well, but with group and community work. Since the trauma occurred to entire communities, it makes sense for the community to be the focus and source of healing.'

 Cecilia is a psychologist with a particular interest in the psychological consequences of war. She is active with Friends Peace Teams and Psychologists for Social Responsibility with a special focus on trauma healing and reconciliation. She has also been a volunteer with the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture and Refugee Services and Alternatives to Violence in Florida prisons.

 She plans to return to Rwanda in September 2004 to provide more training for facilitators of trauma healing workshops in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. This fundraising event will help to pay for costs of this training.

 Donations accepted and tax deductible if made out to "Friends Peace Teams". Donations can be sent to African Great Lakes Initiative, 3031 Laclede Station Road, St. Louis, MO, 63143.

For more information about the project , you can also contact Cecilia at ceceyocum@aol.com or call 813-417-1655.

A woman and child who were standing by the road. The woman is wearing traditonal clothing in Burundi. Women vary what they wear between traditional and western clothes. You can see the countryside is very hilly. A lot of the trees have been cut down for firewood. In the background there are plots of various plants. They grow tea and coffee here as well as vegetables and many root crops. The soil has a lot of clay. Children at a Quaker school in Burundi where they are studying peace education in the afternoon with a regular curriculum in the mornings. There are about 500 children in the school and only four teachers!

Children at the same school who are putting on a pageant. The boy out front is singing a song "I am child like others."