The Kroc Institute’s first African conference took place 7,800 miles from the University of Notre Dame. It featured 30 presenters - 18 of them from Africa, 13 of them women. There were two keynote speeches and eight academic panels. Scholars and practitioners came from 18 universities and 15 non-governmental organizations. Leading scholars from two continents, Charles Villa-Vicencio and Jean Comaroff, provided summary remarks.  

But numbers don’t begin to describe the conference, “Religion in African Conflicts and Peacebuilding Initiatives: Problems and Prospects for a Globalizing Africa.” Its essence was contained in stories. While the legendary river flowed outside Uganda’s red-roofed Jinja Nile Resort, the dramatic accounts – from the deeply personal to the globally significant – flowed inside.

The March 31-April 3 conference will highlight the summer 2004 edition of the Kroc Institute’s Peace Colloquy. Meanwhile, here are some glimpses of the kind of stories that set the tone in Jinja:

• A woman in Northern Uganda begged rebels to kill her instead of her three sons, because she would not be able to raise her grandchildren alone. They consented, said Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama, trampling her in front of her children.
• Two clerics of different faiths tracked down rebel leaders in the long and desperate Northern Uganda conflict. Retired Anglican Archbishop Macleord Baker Ochola II – who lost his wife and daughter in this conflict – told of sitting face-to-face with their rebels, trying to initiate peace talks.
• There was a time in Ethiopia when victors amputated the right hands and left feet of defeated soldiers. “The right hand is the sword hand, the left foot is for mounting a horse,” said researcher Chuck Schaefer, explaining the purpose of the restorative justice: The soldiers, while no longer fit for battle, could still return to society.
• Virginia Davies told another story of a lost limb, that of a pastor who lost his arm in religiously fueled conflict in Northern Nigeria. A Muslim imam lost two brothers and a teacher in the fighting. Introduced by a mutual friend, they decided that the cost of vengeance was too high. Their resolve and compassion led to the creation of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum in Kaduna.
  
  
Early in the conference, Deusdedit Nkurunziza of Makerere University used an African proverb to describe the best way to end conflict. “The crocodile must be led slowly, slowly to the river,” he said. “Peace is a dynamic process that comes slowly. We are searching for an alternative paradigm, one that must be based in African culture and religion.”

Kroc Institute professor and renowned peacebuilder John Paul Lederach echoed that theme at the end of the conference. “Patience is hope practiced,” he said. “We are committed to Africa, to East Africa.”

Their comments were bookends to three days of observations by scholars and practitioners that were passionate, wise and informative. Here is a sample:

“ In Africa, spiritual power is real power. The spirit world becomes a political implement.” – Gerrie Ter Haar, the Hague, Netherlands

“ For the past three decades, religion has been on the loose in Nigeria. New Pentacostal groups have multiplied worship places and used the media in evangelism. They have used the media to assert social power.” – Asonzeh Ukah, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

“ Forgiveness assumes obligation … Accountability is one of the components of forgiveness… Forgiveness does not mean forgetfulness.” – Charles Schaefer, Valparaiso University, USA

“ Africa is the world’s most religiously competitive and fluid region. Religious competition has inspired great acts of charity and development.” – Robert Dowd, University of Notre Dame, USA

“ We can be women, Muslim and, of course, citizens.” – Penda Mbow, University of Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal

“ Real, fundamental change doesn’t happen until there is crisis.” – Virginia L. Davies, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, New York

“ We have been trying to heal ourselves. One of the things that we learned is that all of us, the religious leaders and our people, are all traumatized. So we have reached a state of numbness where we cannot move.” -- the Rt. Rev. Macleord Baker Ochola II, retired Bishop of Kitgum Diocese, Uganda

“ Why should the church be involved in the control of guns? Because guns cause untold human suffering.” – Jonathan Gichaara, Sheffield University, Great Britain

“ Every morning you wake up, and something is happening on the continent. You tend to function like firefighters, running from one situation to another.” - George Wachira, Nairobi Peace Initiative, Kenya

Conflict resolution specialist Dr. Hizkias Assefa summed up the value of the conference when he said:

“ One advantage religious peacebuilders have over secular actors is legitimacy. The parties are more likely to open up. The values of justice, compassion, harmony and respect – the anchors of peace – are the anchors of most doctrines.”

-- Julie Titone, director of communications

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