Will you help women in south Sudan counter the "culture of the gun?"  

Think for a minute about what could happen in south Sudan if ordinary, village women became effective, local "peace advocates." When I took part in the grassroots peace initiative that stopped inter-ethnic violence in the Akobo area of South Sudan in 1994, I experienced what could happen. That initiative grew into the People-to-People Peace Process (P2P Peace Process), which is bringing many Dinka, Nuer, Murle, and other peoples to reconciliation. During the P2P Process, the thing that really caught my attention was the way women played a key behind-the-scene role in initiating, building, and maintaining the peace.

I'm Julia Duany and I'm looking for people who want long-term solutions-not Band-Aids-for problems in Sudan. Especially the root problems, such as inter-ethnic violence. Creating good inter-ethnic relations in Sudan calls for a combination of solutions. Clearly, one of them is strengthening the role of women in grassroots peace-building.

How did women in the Akobo area overcome the power of the AK-47? The women and children, caught in the midst of fighting over shared fishing and grazing, were suffering horribly. It was to remedy this devastation that I started South Sudanese Friends International (SSFI).

At first, I believed the violence would stop with a top-level peace agreement. But my efforts to initiate one failed. In desperation, I began telling the village women to convince their husbands, fathers and brothers to stop fighting. To everyone's surprise, the women's influence was powerful enough to move entire groups toward reconciliation.

After I experienced what can happen when village women work together for the common good, I made up my mind to find a way to help as many grassroots women as possible learn to use their influence for building peace.

Today I'm inviting you to join a very special group of people, the Peace-builder sponsors of Women Working Together: the first program designed especially to teach women in the villages how to counter the "culture of the gun" with the culture of peace-building.

Women Working Together will take shape in three phases. It is not a "quick-fix." It is a long-term process of change "from the inside out," beginning with and building upon women's every day lives.

Women Working Together will reach into remote areas of south Sudan, teaching women ways of thinking and behaving that will: create a climate for change, encourage individual responsibility, build supportive networks, and encourage women to teach each other what they are learning.

How do I know that women in rural villages will accept the challenge for personal change? Because one effect of the P2P Peace Process is an increasing receptivity among grassroots people toward innovations in peace-building. Women frequently are the most receptive.

As a Women Working Together Peace-builder, your gift of $1,200 or more will help launch a life-long learning process and give individual grassroots women the personal skills they need to improve their lives, their families, and their communities.

Phase I of Women Working Together begins this year. The foundation of the program is a basic workshop that will teach women how to work within the social structure to influence their families and their communities to build peace and stability in harmonious and positive ways. During Phase I, I will facilitate two basic workshops in each of the three regions of south Sudan: Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper Nile. Each workshop will last two weeks and train 30-35 women.

The two weeks of learning together will nurture bonds of friendship, trust, and support for a common cause. These bonds will form the basis of network-building, a key part of the personal development and peace-building process.

During the basic workshop, women will learn inter-personal communication skills that will both enhance their ability to step forward and speak to their interests, and empower them to teach the workshop skills to other women. Each participant will receive a kit to help her share what she has learned with the women in her home village. The kits contain visual aids for teaching key concepts and supplies for initiating small-scale self-reliance projects.

SSFI's self-reliance projects include vegetable gardening, fishing, poultry, clean water and personal hygiene. The projects reinforce the value of working together for the common good and strengthen the peace-building process by bringing home an immediate, tangible benefit to the community.

By the end of the first year, SSFI will have planted a network of teams of two trained "peace advocates" who are reaching out to their relatives, friends, and neighbors in at least 90 villages.

Phase II begins as the personal development program moves into its second year. I will repeat the process of training groups of 30-35 women in regional basic workshops and will hold follow-up seminars for the initial network of women. Because my goal is to multiply the effectiveness of the women over the long-term, I will also select one or two women whom I will mentor to become facilitators.

Phase III of the program occurs when the women I have mentored can facilitate basic workshops and follow-up seminars without my direct supervision. These facilitators will also select women to mentor. And that's when we really begin to multiply the numbers of women are reaching.

Your Peace-builder gift of $1,200 or more is an investment in building a better quality of life in south Sudan for today--and for the years to come. Through the dynamic of women teaching women, from village to village, I am confident that one day the behaviors of peace-building and self-reliance will become part of everyday life in south Sudan. And while the program targets women, the family and the community-at-large are the ultimate beneficiaries.

I founded South Sudanese Friends International (SSFI) because I firmly believe that the best way to help the people of south Sudan is to involve the local people in projects that teach them how to help themselves. If that belief is a value that you and I share, then I feel certain you'll want to get involved in Women Working Together.

The People-to-People Peace Process has opened a window of opportunity for us to help women in south Sudan counter the "culture of the gun" with the culture of peace-building. Your contribution now of $1,200 or more will build a better quality of life--for today--and for the years to come. Please mail your tax-deductible check to SSFI today. Our mailing address, telephone number, and email address are all on our contact page.

Thank you for this investment in the future.

Sincerely,

Julia Aker Duany

P.S. If a few village women in the Akobo area can bring hostile groups together, imagine, from your giving, what hundreds, and someday thousands, of women linked across south Sudan will do.

For more detail about this project, click here.