Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the new president of Somalia, stood centerfront among classmates at the 2001 Summer Peacebuilding Institute.
Somalia President & Peace Trainings Linked to EMU The new president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, deepened his understanding of building peace in traumatized societies in three classes taken at the 2001 Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) held at EMU. Challenging the incumbent, Mohamud was the come-frombehind winner in a run-off election that ended Sept. 10, 2012. Mohamud arrived at SPI 2001 as an educator who was interested in how to engage civil society in building his country. He was encouraged to attend SPI by Khadija Ossoble Ali, a native of Somalia who completed her EMU master’s degree in conflict transformation in 2001. Mohamud’s attendance was facilitated by scholarship funding provided by SPI. Joining 182 people from 45 countries at SPI 2001, Mohamud took classes in trauma healing, mediation, and adult-centered education techniques. The BBC called Mohamud a “peace activist and educational campaigner,” who remained in Somalia during more than two decades of civil war, “unlike many other Somali intellectuals.” Mohamud’s election was the final step of a U.N.-backed plan to bring a stable central government to Somalia. The last stable government collapsed in 1991. During the period that Mohamud was running for election, Doreen Ruto, a 2006 graduate of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, as well as the center’s Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program, began playing a key role in a USAID project that hopes to introduce trauma-healing principles to more than 100,000 people in Somalia. In April 2012, Ruto trained eight Somali “master trainers” in STAR principles, using curriculum purchased by USAID and adapted for Somali audiences. Since then, Ruto has served as a mentor for this core group of trainers, checking in with each regularly from her home in Nairobi, Kenya. After that session, those trained by Ruto led a round of STAR trainings in Mogadishu, Somalia, for 32 people from each of the country’s districts. These people have since begun using the STAR curriculum to teach trauma awareness and healing principles to hundreds more volunteers tasked with leading yet another round of training sessions throughout Somalia. According to a USAID news release, project leaders estimate they’ll eventually introduce 115,000 Somalis to the STAR curriculum. The project is supported by USAID’s Transition Initiatives for Stabilization program. — Bonnie Price Lofton, MA ’04, and Andrew Jenner ’04
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four new faculty members at the School of Nursing of Shorter University. She is passionate about integrating faith into practice to help nursing students fulfill their God-given potential and develop into caring and competent nurse leaders. Kris brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, as she was chair of the MUSC Nurse Alliance, was awarded the DAISY Award for extraordinary nurses, and is experienced in psychiatric, school, and camp nursing. In addition, Kris is currently completing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Gardner-Webb University. Nathan Barge ‘84, MA ‘99 (conflict transformation), Harrisonburg, Va., works as a restorative justice consultant based in Harrisonburg, Va. He recently returned from three weeks of training with the Mennonite churches in Paraguay. He has edited a Spanish manual PREVIO for training restorative justice facilitators in victim-offender conferencing. Nathan is fluent in Spanish, having spent 14 years working in Latin America with Mennonite Central Committee. He also volunteers with the Fairfield Center in Harrisonburg with their restorative justice programs. Leslie (Les) S. Horning ‘86, MDiv ‘98, Christiansburg, Va., became associate director of seminary development, admissions, and university church relations at EMU on August 15, 2012. Les previously served as pastor of the Christianburg Mennonite Church in Christiansburg, Va. He received a master’s degree from Virginia Polytechnical Institute in 1990 and did doctoral-level studies at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. Les is also serving as a representative of EMU to constituent conference assemblies. Barbara Burkhart ‘87 Freed, Lancaster, Pa., and her family of five have been working in Guatemala for the last four-and-a-half years. They just recently changed the agency with which they work to Friends of Children Everywhere and are currently running an orphanage of about 160 children at Casa Bernabe. Her husband Dennis, a nurse practitioner, runs the clinic, while Barb and her daughters teach a preschool for the younger children of the home. Jewel Lehman ‘87, Goshen, Ind., was promoted to professor of physical education and granted tenure at Goshen College. Todd Miller, class of ‘89, Richmond, Va., was recently asked to fill the executive pastor role at Vineyard Community Church of Richmond. Jan Dean ‘89 Liskey, Harrisonburg, Va., recently began as director of financial services for Virginia Mennonite Missions. She previously worked in financial services both at EMU and Harman Construction.
1990-99
Valerie Merfa ‘90 Kumalo, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, along with
her husband, Kglotsa Sonnyboy Kumalo, volunteer with Worldwide Evangelization for Christ International as house parents for the Gateway Boarding Home in South Africa. They both are in the midst of their first year at Kwa Zulu Natal Missionary Bible College. Jeffrey (Jeff) Gingerich ‘90, Norristown, Pa., dean for academic affairs at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa., has been selected to participate in a national leadership development program sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and the American Academic Leadership Institute. The year-long senior leadership academy is designed to prepare 26 prospective leaders to assume positions as chief officers in any division of higher education. Kimberly (Kim) Golden-Myers ‘91, Harrisonburg, Va., was one of 24 teachers in the Rockingham County School system who received the Rockingham County Teacher of the Year Award. She teaches third grade at Ottobine Elemetary School. Jeffrey (Jeff) Hoover ‘92, Leola, Pa., is associate vice president of academic affairs and registrar at Lancaster Bible College. He is currently enrolled at Capella University, pursuing a master’s degree in their enrollment management program. The program is affiliated with Noel-Levitz, an industry leader in enrollment management consulting. John Spidaliere ‘92, Lancaster, Pa., is academic and communications specialist at Project GRAD USA, a nonprofit organization working to improve the quality of public education for economically disadvantaged children in 12 targeted school districts across the nation. Matthew Gene Tschetter ‘92, Freeman, S.D., entered a three-year service term with MCC Nicaragua as the Connecting Persons coordinator. Karen Harlow ‘93, Penn Laird, Va., has continued her education through Cleveland State University’s online patient advocacy program. She continues to use her nursing skills as an as-needed RN volunteer at Augusta Regional Free Clinic in Fishersville, Va. Her health has greatly improved, and she wishes to thank both the alumni constituency and the university for their support since 2008. Jacqueline Wiens ‘93 Gauthier, Denver, Colo., along with her husband, Christopher, and co-worker, Lauren Kerstein, presented “Building Relationships, Marriage, and Family in the Context of Autism” at the US Autism & Asperger Association 2012 World Conference on September 6-9. The Gauthiers have two children diagnosed with autism and one them is also affected by Asperger’s Syndrome. They have developed a language to understand one another based on Asperger’s identity and sensory issues. Kirby King ‘ 93, Souderton, Pa., was licensed in October 2011 as minister of adult formation at Souderton Mennonite