Recently the Alternatives to Violence Project international gathering was held in Western Kenya, with 115 people from 23 nations attending. What is Alternatives to Violence?

The Alternatives to Violence Project started in the US, in prisons. By its own description,

AVP is a nationwide and worldwide association of volunteer groups offering experiential workshops in conflict resolution, responses to violence, and personal growth. AVP is dedicated to reducing the level of violence in our society. Our goal is to reduce the level of violence by introducing people to ways of resolving conflict that reduce their need to resort to violence as the solution. The Alternatives to Violence Project is designed to create successful personal interactions and transform violent situations.

The fact that the recent international gathering was held in Kenya attests to the transformative power of AVP in many different settings. Since starting in prisons, AVP has spread to schools and communities. In East Africa, AVP works to heal the wounds of war.

In Kenya, AVP has been especially important since the post-election violence that started early this year. In other East African settings, Burundi and Rwanda have been holding AVP workshops (and a close cousin workshop, Healing and Rebuilding our Communities) for many years, to heal the festering wounds of the wars that started there in 1993.

With the concentration of AVP facilitators in one place, the recent AVP gathering provided opportunities for training, and for more workshops to be held in Kenya. For example, five apprentice HROC workshops were held in trouble spots in Kenya, led by experienced facilitators from Rwanda and Burundi working with Kenyan apprentices. They went well, with the Kenyan apprentices emerging confident and skilled, able to lead workshops on their own. In Rongai, in the Rift Valley Province, where the fighting had been especially intense, Florence Ntakarutimana from Burundi led the apprentice workshop. One of the AVP group members who went along with her reported:

Forence has a good kind of trouble. They expected 20 to 25 people. They have 38. She said the Masai walked one to two hours so she could not send them away and that they have had great healing moments.

Alternatives to Violence changes lives slowly, healing one heart at a time. While the seeds of change are small and work slowly, the power of AVP and HROC workshops cannot be overestimated. One step at a time, they are changing hearts and transforming communities.


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Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," and "The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Success and Fulfillment," works with leaders in business, healthcare, churches, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. © Copyright 2008 by Margaret Benefiel.