Thanks to all who made SPI 2008 such a wonderful event.
We will leave the SPI 2008 information up until we have finalized the SPI 2009 schedule.
Please check back in early October for information and an application for SPI 2009.
Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly! ~ Langston Hughes
I find life-giving energy in the efforts of the many courageous peacebuilders who attend the Summer Peacebuilding Institute each year, and who succeed in resurrecting life and hope in the midst of violence and death. Their faith, courage and hope continue to transform and inspire me.
Amy Erickson
SPI participant - USA, previously working in Congo
Langston Hughes , the “poet laureate of Harlem,” drew inspiration from his primarily African American neighborhood, where his neighbors faced violence, racism, hunger, and hopelessness. Hughes conveyed the beauty of the soul of his people despite their oppressive circumstances. Holding fast to dreams in our broken world is an enormous spiritual task that requires vision, courage, discipline, hope, humor, compassion, community, and a faith in something beyond ourselves.
The Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) is a place to share your dreams with others and to discover the power of communal deliberations on the urgent issues of our time – equitable development, protection of human rights, sustainable management of the environment, and global security. SPI provides a safe and creative space for exploring the possibilities for personal and collective peace, as participants, faculty, staff, and invited guests discover common interests through classroom interaction, luncheon presentations, weekend seminars, special interest groups, and community celebrations.
The 13th annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute, a program of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, will be held from May 5 to June 13, 2008. Three 7-day sessions and one 5-day session, each with six intensive courses running concurrently, will be offered for academic credit or as professional training for practitioners at various experience and skill levels. An interactive approach is used in the classroom to draw upon the rich experiences of the participants as well as the instructors.
Learning Community
Thanks to SPI for reaffirming for me how much decency, integrity and kindness can reside in the human heart, and how, in spite of the extraordinary challenges of the chaotic world, positive work done by active and responsible citizens can be accomplished when we pull together. As a result, our voices can overcome the voices of negativity and hatred.
Khamis Ghosheh,
SPI participant - Palestinian from Jerusalem
The SPI community is one of mutual respect and learning. In this unique experiment of education in community, the classroom is just one venue. A host of other activities are offered to maximize opportunities for sharing and net-working among the participants who gather for two months in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
Informal sharing of personal stories and cultural experiences creates bonds of trust, a spirit of hope, a sense of belonging to something larger than oneself, and the courage to move forward. New friendships and networks are forged as participants engage in a host of activities: relaxing together over community meals; participating in sporting events, recreational outings and dance parties; visiting with local families; and sharing spiritual journeys.
