Mike Brown shares a stirring account of the South Sudan Initiative, IofC's effort to support South Sudanese working on a Journey of Healing for National Reconciliation.

For Joseph Wainaina, to lead a peace caravan in his home city of Eldoret was a dream come true. In 1992, Wainaina and his family, who are Kikuyus, had to flee for their lives from Eldoret, after election-triggered clashes between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities. His house was burnt down and his aunt was killed. On 16 May, he led the peace caravan, through former conflict hot-spots of the city, with his close friend and co-organizer, Chrisostom Maiyo, former Area Chief of Eldoret, a Kalenjin.

Juliana Nakhumicha and Annie Gitu, travelled to Mbuyu, a small village close to Nanyuki, to facilitate a Creators of Peace Circles (CoPC) workshop for 15 women from 15-17 April, 2013. The workshop had been repeatedly requested by a lady who had participated in one of the Peace Circles last year and she wanted her women to experience what she had experienced, i.e. - inner healing and peace.

Being involved with Initiatives of Change (IofC) has not only been an experience but a journey of learning and gaining so much good. It’s been years of personal development in terms of integrity and moral values. Zachariah Muturi, a young Kenyan shares his experience with IofC.

What was initially a dream became a reality on Saturday 13 April, when 25 young Nigerian professionals and change-makers in their respective communities gathered at the Initiatives of Change (IofC) Nigeria centre in Lagos to learn about the work of IofC and to sharpen their networking skills. The forum was tagged: Army of Change Makers.

In a first for South Sudan, 200 people, drawn from all 10 states, completed a four-week training to be Peace and Reconciliation Mobilisers throughout the country, on Wednesday 1 May.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan challenged 200 peace and reconciliation mobilisers and facilitators during their training on the morning of 29 April, saying, ‘If you have not changed, you cannot change your country.’

Pokot, Ilchamus, Tugen and Turkana communities came together over two days in March in Baringo, Kenya seeking the means to finding lasting peace. Joseph Karanja reports.

The first Creators of Peace Circle in South Sudan ran in Juba over three days in March. The very interactive, wide ranging conversation and the very deep and painful sharing gave lie to those who said the women of South Sudan would find it hard to open up, too traumatised to share.