NIne of the earliest CTP graduates, pictured in a 1998 recognition ceremony: (from left) Hadley Jenner, Moe Kyaw Tun, Pat Hostetter Martin, Sam Gbaydee Doe, Janet Evergreeen, Jim Hershberger, David Schwinghamer, Hannah Mack Lapp, and Tim Ruebke.
“The one area that I wish would have been stronger at CTP was a critical analysis of how economic systems and relationships perpetuate conflict.” — Jeff Heie
On the local level, for instance, Jim Bernat has worked for a community services board in a semi-rural area of Virginia long enough to notice that some of the clients coming into his treatment system are the sons and daughters of clients treated for mental health or substance abuse problems many years ago. “Our system is clearly broken, when the kids arrive at our doors as harmed as their parents were,” said Bernat. In El Salvador, Sandra Dunsmore said she ended up doing “damage control” in her role as a facilitator of dialogue for the stakeholders involved in winding down the war in El Salvador in the mid-1990s, rather than hearing the stakeholders address the social and economic issues underlying the war – issues that fester to this day in El Salvador.
in their efforts to sow seeds of peace. Nobody interviewed expressed regret at gaining these insights Need to Understand Power and skills. Almost all spoke of the ways they had benefited from “I used to think that if your arguments are good enough, people learning them. will listen to you,” Dunsmore said. “Often that isn’t true, Nevertheless, about a third of the interviewees expressed a deespecially when there are very powerful interests at play.” Back in sire, as Ayindo and Longchari voiced in their paper, “to search for her day at CTP, Dunsmore added, “We talked very little in class new paradigms of governance and systems… with the inherent about power dynamics.” capacity to meet the aspirations of peoples.” Upon returning to West Africa after graduating, Sam Gbaydee CTP did not contribute to this search, at least not in their era Doe kept seeing something that he did not know how to stop, of study. “The one area that I wish would have been stronger at even with his rapidly growing network of peace organizations: CTP was a critical analysis of how economic systems and relation- certain African power-players went about winning a place in ships perpetuate conflict,” said Jeff Heie. “The military-industrial the post-conflict power structure by intentionally doing horrific complex is an example that we all know about. An economy that things. Doe observed: “One of the best ways to get recognition, to relies so heavily on the economic activity generated by arms sales get a seat at the negotiation table, is to cut off the limbs of babies and military spending has a vested interest in keeping violent and children.” conflict alive.” Heie and other alumni expressed frustration at Eventually Doe developed a hunger to move beyond scenarios addressing the effects or symptoms of cycles of destruction, rather of dealing with sickly violent characters to figuring out “how we than breaking the cycles. can make the state work for ordinary people.” In 2005, he entered PhotoS courtesy EMU/CJP archives
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