The Stories of Peace Challenge organized by Peace Portal is over and the jury has selected the 25 best stories, which will be published in the book 'People Building Peace 2.0'. The best story, "Coffee for peace in Congo", will win the additional prize of customized features on the Peace Portal worth €500.
The top 5 winners are:
François Lenfant - Coffee for peace in Congo "Who is an ex-rebel?" I ask at the village meeting in Lemera. Silence, a reminder of the death tolls that have plagued Eastern Congo the past decades overwhelms me. A young man sitting in a front row stands up. Read the full story.
Stephanie Marienau Turpin - One and Then Another: Peace through Forgiveness in Rwanda This is not my story. This is the story of a group of women who have made the extraordinary decision to forgive. In 1994, the unimaginable happened in Rwanda, as hatred between Hutus and Tutsis exploded into violence. Neighbor turned against neighbor, killing an estimated 800,000 people in only 100 days. Read the full story.
Amy Schwartzott - Recycling Weapons of War into Tools for Peace building in Post-conflict Mozambique The Transforming Arms into Plowshares/Transformação de Armas em Enxadas (TAE) project in Mozambique reveals the potency of transforming recycled weapons of war into art as a tool for peace building, and more importantly, peace keeping in post-conflict societies. Read the full story
4. Sue Useem - A Women's Grassroots Peace Movement in Sulawesi, Indonesia Consult conventional history of the brutal communal conflict that lasted from 1998-2007 in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, and prospects for a lasting peace in the region are pretty grim. Read the full story
5. Beza Tesfaye - Natural Resource Management: An Innovative Approach to Peace-building in a Resource-rich and Diverse Community Arba Minch town in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia is situated at the convergence of two large lakes. The serene natural landscape and the rich cultures of the diverse groups that live around here are tourist attractions. However, diversity and natural resources have been both a blessing and a curse. Read the full story
You can read the rest of these inspiring stories of peace on the Peace Portal website.
