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Martin, Dina and Rashied met in sunny Jinja, Uganda, in April 2004.  They gathered from Ethiopia (Martin), Sudan (Dina) and Notre Dame (Rashied) for the Kroc Conference on Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding in Africa.  Rashied coordinated the conference, Dina presented a paper and Martin came in time for the alumni gathering.

Career Updates:

Hossein Alizadeh is campaign coordinator for Iraq at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, NY.  Email: <alizadehhossein@hotmail.com> (5/04)

Dina Badri has most recently been a unversity lecturer in gender and women studies at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, Sudan.  After earning degrees in organizational management in Sudan and health management in England, Dina served as administrative manager of Ahfad Reproductive Health Center in Omdurman and as project coordinator and field coordinator for a United Nations Population Fund reproductive health project.  She has been a member of the steering committee of The Global Action Network for Reproductive Health/Reproductive Rights, USA, an advisory member to the Global Fund for Women, USA and an executive member at Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women Studies, Sudan.  She is currently a homemaker in Doha, Qatar.  Email: <badrid21@hotmail.com> (7/05)

Martin Ewi is political affairs officer in the External Relations Division of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague.  The OPCW is the international organisation that was established in 1997 by the countries that have joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, to make sure that the Convention works effectively and achieves its purpose.  For the previous three years Martin served as consultant on terrorism for the Commission of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  A Kroc Institute interview with Martin from March 2004 highlights this work.  Email: <ewimartin@hotmail.com> (1/06)

Mark Frey is Special Projects Coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams in Chicago, Illinois.  Email: <markefrey@yahoo.com> (5/04)

Michelle Gawerc is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at Boston College with a focus on the sociology of world conflict, peace-building, medical sociology, and mental health.  She earned her clinical MSW in 2006.  In 2006-2007 she is teaching an undergraduate sociology course on social conflict and beginning work on her dissertation on peace-building during times of relative peace and times of acute violence, with a focus on Israel/Palestine. Her research hopes to answer: How do non-governmental peace-building initiatives (and peace-builders) adapt to radically changing environments, what are the challenges they face, how effective are they internally for the participants and externally for the larger political and cultural reality, and what are their possibilities and limitations during these different time periods?  In addition to her academic work, Michelle is involved with both the Movement/Media Research Action Project whose mission is to strengthen progressive social movements working towards social justice and inclusive participatory democracy, and Brit Tzedek v' Shalom, an American Jewish organization dedicated to a just and peaceful negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Email: <mgawerc@hotmail.com>  (5/06)

Karim Kahwaji earned a masters in clinical psychology from Santa Clara University in 2002 and is a psychologist with Alliance For Community Care in San Jose, California, a non-profit mental health agency.  He provides psychotherapy and rehabilitation for the mentally ill, specializing in work with gay youth and refugees.  "It is a very rewarding job.  I get to combine both my MA in International Peace Studies skills with clinical psychology skills especially in conflict resolution.  I have patients who walk in initially very ill and after a few months, they walk out healthy, ready to function again in the community.  There is still a lot of stigma and ignorance about mental illness but at the same time there is lots of progress especially in the last couple of years."   Email:  <k_kahwaji@hotmail.com> (5/04)

Blendi Kajsiu is a researcher in the Albanian Institute for International Relations, Tirana, Albania.  Email: <kajsiu@yahoo.com>  (10/04)

 

Asya Kushleyko serves as legal advisor to the Russian Federation's regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Moscow. She covers issues of international humanitarian law in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Inspired by her work with Juan Mendez at Notre Dame, she earned a BA in Law from the Institute of International Law and Economics in Moscow in 2004, while continuing to work full time with the ICRC.  Email: <nastasiak@gmail.com> (7/05)

Dan Moriarty is Campus Minister for Peace & Justice Concerns, Seattle University.  Email: <moriarty@seattleu.edu> (5/04)

Rashied Omar coordinates the Program in Religion, Conflict and Peace Building at the Kroc Institute.  Email: <aomar@nd.edu> (5/04)

Hyekyung Park is working for the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, as junior programme specialist on the Culture Team.  She is in charge of arts and cultural exchange programmes.   Email: <diana0618@yahoo.com>   (5/04)

Maneesha Pasqual is currently on study leave from her position as lecturer in Modern History at the Department of Modern History and International Relations, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and working towards her PhD at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Virginia.  She is now working her dissertation, which will focus on the relation between the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora & the history of the conllict.  She plans to be in England January to April 2005 to do interviews.  Email: <maneeshawp@gmail.com>  (12/04)

Phak Por is assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister/Co-Minister of Interior of Cambodia, and also continues his work as liaison officer for the Australian Federal Police, working with the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh. "The work is mainly on transnational crime, especially trafficking in women, children and drugs.  This allowed me and some local law enforcement counterparts to win an appreciation from Homeland Security."    Email: <porphek_31@yahoo.com>   (7/05)

Sara Reschly is training co-coordinator and regional group development coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams in Chicago.  Email: <sarareschly@gmail.com> (5/04)

Regi Saffa is Sahel Gender Advisor for Oxfam GB. She works with women's organizations in Africa's Sahel region, where gender roles are strictly defined, especially in rural areas where more than 80 percent of the people live. She reports that she is "preoccupied with advocacy and campaigns these days, especially in gender and social justice issues." She is also working toward a Ph.D. in peace studies from Bradford University. Her dissertation title is "Decentralization in Sierra Leone: Implications for Sustainable Peace."   Email: <reggiesafa@yahoo.co.uk> (8/06)

Elton Skendaj began a PhD program in government at Cornell University in 2005, where he plans to study the impact of international actors on conflicts in the Balkans.  Elton was formerly Albanian national coordinator of a peace education project, "Developing Peace and Disarmament - Education Initiatives to Disarm Children and Youth," sponsored by the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs (UNDDA) and the Hague Appeal for Peace. (See their website at www.cpde.net.)   He also taught political science at the University of Tirana for four years.  In 2003 he won a fellowship from the Civic Education Project to promote democratization of the higher education system in Albania.  He writes, "Last year was a very busy year for me: I finished working on the peace education project and teaching at the university.  I made the big decision to marry my sweetheart, Meg, and we had two amazing weddings in Vlore and New York.  Meg is also doing a PhD in Education at Cornell, so it is easy for us to support each other."  Email: <es324@cornell.edu> (1/06)

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