Shared Stories: A Gathering to Reflect & Inspire

As we came together for our final call of 2024, one message stood out: peacebuilding is a deeply personal practice that calls for collective compassion, and it is essential for the healing of our world. To honor this important work, Peace Practice Alliance alumni shared valuable insights from their own peacebuilding journeys.. Each person's contributions—whether through teaching, storytelling, intercultural dialogue, workshops, or simply being present—can bring light and hope to the world. These stories reflect the shared commitment to creating a more peaceful, just, and compassionate world, one small step at a time.

Please click here for a link of the call recording or enjoy the full transcript below.

Welcome

Hollister: As everybody was coming into the room today, I was thinking about something that I loved when I was a little girl. My neighbor down the street had a granddaughter that would visit every Christmas and summer, and I would go visit her. In one of their rooms, they had one of those wall-hanging world clocks—a world map that would show when it was day and night across time zones. It would move across all day long and you could see which countries had daylight and which countries were at night. I thought that was the coolest thing; I would stare at it forever. As I got older, I began to think about this map in my morning prayers. I hold that rectangular map image in my mind, and I scan and bathe everybody that I know in those regions in light from east to west. That's what we're all here to do together this morning.

I’m grateful this call is the day after Giving Tuesday, an important day for all nonprofits around the world, who spend so much time and effort living out their passions and missions to make the world a better place, to bathe each time zone in hope and light. Philanthropy is truly the love of mankind. Yesterday I was feeling that love for all the global nonprofits, their staff and boards who labor with love all year long.

Sharing from our Peace Practice Alliance Alumni

Today we're all coming together to share gratitude and insights and inspiration that has come over the course of the year. It's a great way for us to celebrate all the triumphs amidst the challenges. The Peace Practice Alliance is our flagship 6-month program. Participants go on a journey together, exploring peace leadership from the inside out - inner personal peace, interpersonal peace, community peace, and global peace. How does that all integrate? How are we making change and seeing change in the world when we practice peace?

Picture my rectangular map. There are all these little bright lights everywhere that are exploring the practice of peace in very unique ways, and we thought it would be really fun for some of them to have an opportunity to share their light. The prompts are - what has been going on in your corner of the world? Are there any insights that you can share with us that bring a sense of light and hope this time of year? What are you currently finding that brings you joy as a peacebuilder?

Simran Kour: Hello, everyone! Good evening from India. My name is Simran, and I am from Jammu and Kashmir. Currently, I am in Jammu. One piece of good news that I can share from my corner of the world is about an initiative by my organization, Eqra Foundation. We work in the field of peace, education, mental health, and communal harmony, and we work on a very small scale here.

We have been working with teenage kids, and our weekly sessions have been going very well. We recently completed 33 weekly sessions. So we are very happy and proud. I would like to take this moment to mention that I really, really like the integral Peace Leadership framework that was introduced to me because of the Peace Practice Alliance program.

And I have mentioned this earlier—it really validated the work that I was trying to do and made me understand its value and relevance. Another piece of good news is that we have received permission from the Directorate of Education Kashmir to work with government schools in Kashmir. We are now waiting for their exams to end, so that we can begin. We have our first training on the 13th and 14th of December. It’s a training on personal peace practices and self-awareness, focusing on the role we play during peace and conflict situations in our lives. We are doing this with a private school in Kashmir, and I’m really looking forward to that.

Something that is currently bringing me joy in my work as a peace builder is journaling. We all know that peacebuilding is an active process, and we have to continuously keep revisiting our learnings and reinforce those practices. I’ve been reading a book called It Didn’t Start with You. It’s about intergenerational trauma and epigenetics, and journaling has made that process very meaningful for me.

Hollister: Simran, thank you so much. Your work is beautiful. If you all want to learn more about Simran, we did an interview that shares a little bit more detail about the work that's happening in Kashmir and Jammu. 

Ross Estela: Thank you. Well, nice to meet you all. I'm currently based in the north of Peru, and for me, the year has been a lot of self-reflection. One thing I would like to share is that, as I've been supporting different initiatives, storytelling has been used as a way to connect with people or to tell stories of communities in an honest way, involving the community itself. So far, I’ve been doing that through films. With the documentary we made, we've won film competitions. We made it to the Volcano Film Festival.

That’s been a different process. I was able to join the Summit of the Nobel Peace Prize in Monterey, Mexico, and the learnings from all those events, and even reflecting on peace practice recognition, I noticed that it can be a vulnerable field. 

I think it's about the way we get involved. We also put ourselves out there. We are the face, the voice, and we represent the values. We go into spaces that were previously closed to us. My own learning has been not just accepting what’s there, the standard, but how we connect and use all our multiple hats. Sometimes I need to introduce myself as a biologist, but next, I need to introduce myself as someone with experience in the arts. It’s about using all the skills we have, no matter what, to commit to our values. We use them for good.

What still brings me peace is thinking about connectedness around the world. It’s about seeing our humanity, not seeing this as a Latin American problem or an African problem. Recently, I was reflecting on the challenges of diseases like dengue and malaria, and how they affect all of humanity. Sometimes, it’s not about having the technical knowledge, but just being present, listening to people who are leading other projects, supporting their work, and just being there.

Hollister: Thank you so much, Ross. I love this. I’m noticing that people like you, Ross, and Simran, are offering ways that we can all participate in building peace. We can listen, we can journal, we can participate in storytelling—whether it's listening to someone else's story or sharing our own. Maybe not all of us can enter into film festivals, and congratulations on what’s happening for you, Ross. 

We had two people who couldn’t join us today from the United States. Becky and Megan, from the northwest of the United States, are going to share their story, and they’re going to do it by video.

Becky: I had just completed the 6-month Online Peace Leadership program with Euphrates Institute called Peace Practice Alliance. The idea for Culturing Peace came about because Covid had closed schools and kept youth from spending quality time with their peers and their teachers, limiting interaction altogether. With Zoom Rooms exploding around the globe, it seemed like a perfect time to support youth and youthful thinkers around the world.

It was named Culturing Peace because there is a constant development, constant change, constant percolating of ideas and learning more about peace. We are culturing and creating. We are exploring, we are learning, we are individually and collectively making peace.

I decided to post something on Facebook. That's when Megan joined me in this outreach.

Megan: My job as a high school English teacher is so fulfilling, as is my job as co-leader of Culturing Peace. Throughout my teaching career, I've always focused on global citizenship. I want my students to see themselves beyond grades. I want them to see themselves as valuable contributors in their communities.

So when I saw Becky's Facebook post about Culturing Peace that was aimed at young people, I knew I had to be involved. Culturing Peace is a safe space where everyone shares their thoughts, feelings, and experiences on their personal peace journey.

We practice empathy, compassion, open-mindedness, and a growth mindset as we discuss difficult but important issues like human rights, racism, climate change, and war.

To see young people reflecting on the world around them and supporting each other, as we all claim our value as members of our local and global communities, is powerful and inspiring. Connecting with peace builders from different locations, backgrounds, and experiences reminds me both that the world is small and that I have so much to learn. And this excites me.

Culturing Peace is a place that reveals the unity of humanity. We understand that peace is a practice and a journey that we embark on alone, but we need each other in order to move forward.

I've had the privilege, along with Becky, to learn from the expertise of peacebuilders from the US, Nigeria, Ghana, Denmark, and India. I've heard stories from youth across the globe, and how they are making the world better right where they are. To be part of a group that gives voice to those who might feel voiceless and that practices honesty and grace with both oneself and others, brings me so much joy as a peacebuilder.

Becky: One of our recent highlights has been to connect with the British International School of Gaza. These youth are incredibly resilient, passionate about their education, and brave. We'd love to hear your ideas on how to bring our worldwide youth into a more peace-filled world.

We are culturing peacebuilders. You can find us on Instagram at Culturingpeace.

At the end of each session, we have a closing mantra. All the youth know this. They're welcome to say it in their own language. They're welcome to say it together; they unmute and all say, "The world is yours."

And with that, we'd like to introduce Wes Davison. Wes was a special guest last spring in 2024, and he's now a part of our team. He has a master's in conflict resolution and has helped with educational outreach with youth around the world. He has also completed the Peace Practice Alliance program with Euphrates. It's a joy to have Wes as part of our team.

Wes P. Davison: Well, thank you, Hollister, for that. It's a hard act to follow, but I'll do the best I can. So, my name is Wes. I'm from the Chicago area in the US, and currently in Austin, Texas. I was asked by Becky about a year ago, maybe 8 or 9 months ago, to join in with culturing peace, which has been one of the different projects that I've participated in, and it's been an absolute delight and treasure.

It's really kind of led by the youth, young people. We have a number in Cote d'Ivoire and a couple in the West Africa area. A number of students from Afghanistan, or who live in other countries but are from Afghanistan, and a number of other places as well. As Becky mentioned, we've recently connected with the British International School in Gaza as well. So we've been connecting with those students.

For me, this has been an interesting year, but a year of a lot of recognition of the importance of relationships and how peacebuilding is a relationship both with ourselves and with each other.

I think one thing I mentioned in our breakout room was just how much more I've realized that things aren't within my control in a lot of ways. In the world, we see a lot of chaos, a lot of conflict, a lot of strife, a lot of corruption. But these spaces and the focus on peace leadership, like we have with the PPA, really reminds us of how each action, each step, is a conscious choice toward peacebuilding. Whether that's tending to our own gardens or tending to the gardens around us, that's a big part of it. So for me, one of my personal peace practices recently has just been listening more and allowing people the space to be and to fill their space in the way that they give me grace to fill my space. I've really seen that happen the most with my brother in our relationship, because we've been living together on and off for the past few months. But that's been a little bit of where my peace journey has been recently, in the relational focus.

I'm very excited to be part of a number of projects that focus on that, especially Culturing Peace. I've learned, and I think a lot of you can speak to this, too, that not every one of us can go out and save the world, so to speak. But we can stand alongside and support those who are doing that work directly. And we get to be there. We get to be a part of that story with them. We get to be there when they're saying, "I'm exhausted. Can I just talk with you about this?" or "I'm so excited!” You know this person who, for years, has been really struggling with something, has found more peace in themselves by doing these things. So for me, that's been the big focus. And I'm so glad to be a part of a community where that is also the focus: recognizing the leadership skills within each and every one of us, and how we choose peace every day in little and big ways.

Hollister: Thank you so much, Wes. I think what's also starting to emerge is the encouragement that I'm feeling from you all—that we all have the ability to be peacebuilders. Regardless of whether or not you self-identify as a peacebuilder, how you show up in relationships, with yourself and with others, that's what indicates whether or not you're a peace builder.

Nargis Zadran: Yes, good morning, everyone. It is just so nice to be with you all. I kind of missed our Wednesday meetings that we used to have, but it's so nice to be with you all again.

So as a peace builder, I'm excited to share a new chapter in my journey, which is volunteering with Afghan refugee families and Stafford County schools to support Afghan refugee children as they navigate life in the U.S. Our work focuses on helping these young individuals develop a healthy sense of identity and belonging in their new schools and communities.

While we are in the early stages and haven't seen any tangible results yet, I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to support these children, many of whom have faced unimaginable challenges. For them, every day in a new school, learning a new language, and building connections is an act of courage. It is a reminder of how much strength young people possess when given the right support.

Right now, we are focused on laying the foundation, building relationships, understanding the needs of these children and their families, and creating a dialogue with educators. This work has immense potential, and it fills me with hope that these small beginnings will lead to meaningful change, not just for the children, but for the entire community.

In addition to this work, I'm also supporting girls' education in Afghanistan, which is making it possible for 150 girls to receive an education from grades 7 through 12. In a country where the future of girls has been threatened by the current political climate, providing access to education is more than empowerment. It is a form of peacebuilding. By investing in their education, we are nurturing a generation of young women who will play a crucial role in rebuilding their communities, promoting stability, and advocating for justice.

Education is a powerful tool for long-term peace. It equips girls with the skills to challenge oppression, fostering a more peaceful and inclusive society. Both efforts, whether in the U.S. or Afghanistan, are about creating environments where children feel supported, valued, and ready to contribute to a better future.

I'm also incredibly grateful to be part of the supportive community of like-minded peace advocates from Euphrates Institute. Their encouragement and shared vision for a just and peaceful world fills me with even more hope and determination to make a meaningful impact.

Furthermore, the knowledge I have gained from the Peace Practice Alliance has been life-changing. It has helped me see the deep connections between different areas of peace, showing me how peace can be promoted and cultivated in various ways. I've also learned personal peace practices that continue to guide and inspire me on this journey. Again, thank you for allowing me to share this exciting start to what I hope will be a deeply impactful journey.

Hollister: Thank you, Nargis. Thank you for everything that you're doing. I haven't heard all the details of your story, and it's remarkable. So thank you for being willing to share with us today.

Next up, we are going to hear from Françoise and Edriss. They both have independent peace practices in their communities in their corners of the world, but they also recently came together. Beautiful things happen, like Nargis said, when you unite with a community of like-minded individuals or people pursuing similar values and different passion projects.

Edriss Behraj: Thank you so much, dear. Hello to everyone, people who are here and listening to us. I'm so grateful that I can have this opportunity to hear from different people around the world.

I think peace is a very special topic and word, and it can bring cultures, people, enemies, and values together around the world, making lots of ways shorter and uniting different things to find a solution, to find kindness between them. That was the reason that brought me from Germany to Africa, to meet different people there, listen to people, and have wonderful events with Françoise.

We had a wonderful time in Cameroon, Africa, where we held two beautiful events for women and children about personal peace. It was really amazing. It changed my perspective; it gave me new experiences. It showed me another side of the world that I hadn’t experienced in person before. Everyone learns and watches movies or documentaries about different parts of the world, but when you go in person and experience it and speak with people, it's a different experience. I’m so grateful for that.

Recently, I've also been involved in recording videos for Afghan women. They are struggling a lot because of the political situation. We are recording some videos and publishing them on social media to bring their voices to the world and connect their lives to the global community. As we know, the Taliban recently issued a new law restricting women's rights, prohibiting them from speaking in public.

At the same time, we are working on a book to compile the experiences of Afghan women to share it with the world. The goal is to raise awareness about the problems and limitations Afghan women are struggling with every day. Our world is struggling right now, and recently, I read about a woman in Lebanon who lost her two daughters and her husband in an attack from Israel. It's so sad. Just a family with no connection to the conflict, yet they lost all their loved ones. It’s heartbreaking.

I think peacebuilding is the key to solving all of these problems and bringing everyone together. It's about creating a beautiful world where people are united, despite the struggles we face. I wanted to share these thoughts with you all. I’m sorry to bring in such a sad topic, but it’s a reality that we can’t ignore.

Hollister: Thank you, Edriss, and I think it’s important to bring all of this into our space. It’s these personal stories—whether from Afghanistan or Lebanon—that inspire us to do the work we're doing. When you hear these stories, they touch you in a way that makes you feel like you can’t sit down. You have to stand up and take action. Thank you for everything you’re doing. I love how you highlight the connections between cultures and how we all unite in this shared goal of creating positive change in the world.

Esther Doo Ugba: Good news from my corner of the world.

In my corner of the world, hope is literally rising, healing is being nurtured, and change is taking root in profound ways. I am humbled and grateful to share some pivotal initiatives that embody these transformations.

The first is my PPA project, “Hope Rising: Empowering Vulnerable Youth for Healing and Resilience,” a collaborative effort with PSYCON Consultancy Firm and Jules Abiem, a Médecins Sans Frontières psychologist who specializes in trauma healing for children and women in IDP camps. This initiative is dedicated to addressing the emotional, psychological, and socio-economic challenges faced by children aged 12 to 18 who have lost their families' breadwinners to communal violence, natural causes or systemic issues like poor healthcare.

These young people are burdened with immense trauma, economic hardship, and neglect, often forced into survival mode. Many girls resort to dangerous compromises, such as transactional relationships, risking exploitation and physical harm. Boys, on the other hand, are often conditioned to suppress their emotions, leading to aggression or emotional detachment. Together, these cycles of trauma perpetuate poverty, abuse, and instability.

Through Hope Rising, we hope to provide a sanctuary for healing and transformation through trauma-informed counselling, resilience-building workshops, mentorship, and partial scholarships helping these young people rebuild their self-worth, process their grief, and develop healthy coping mechanisms. We look forward to offering pathways to education and mentorship to restore their dreams of a better future; emphasize emotional intelligence and teach skills that foster self-expression and conflict resolution. Our goal is to not only to provide a space for healing for these young people but to equip them to break the cycles of trauma, poverty, and despair in their communities.

The second initiative close to my heart is my role as a Leadership and Communication mentor in The Self-Actualized Woman Initiative (TSAWI), a mentorship program by PSYCON Consultancy Firm that supports women aged 25 to 39. TSAWI fosters a nurturing and inspiring community where women can connect, grow, and cultivate the mindset and skills necessary to reach their full potential. It is a space where stories, struggles, and triumphs are shared, reminding us of the resilience and power that thrive when women come together.

What is currently bringing me joy in my work and life as a peacebuilder?

My journey as a peace-builder has been a profound evolution. This year, to commemorate International Peace Day, I facilitated a Leadership Master Class on Peace and Conflict Resolution for the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI RLC) Alumni Association of Nigeria and also recently facilitated a training for Nigerian Red Cross volunteers in Bauchi State on Safety and Inclusion (PSEA/PGI). These sessions were opportunities to share the transformative knowledge I have gained from my peace practice leadership through the Peace Practice Alliance, empowering others to lead with empathy and intention.

Another milestone is my role as an ambassador for Reluvolution, a social good app rooted in love and hate speech free designed for activists and cause-driven organizations. This platform aligns with my commitment to fostering a culture of non-violence and positive social change.

On a personal level, I embarked on an intentional solitude and social media break—a practice that has been both a revelation and a reclamation. Spending time meditating, reflecting, connecting with nature, and journaling has allowed me to reconnect with myself in a deeply meaningful way. As an empath, I have often struggled with people-pleasing, which led to pouring from a half-empty cup. Now, I am intentionally nurturing myself and filling my cup. I am relearning boundaries, prioritizing my well-being, and redefining my values to embody my true self fully.

This journey is guided by the words of Former Secretary General of the United Nations, KofiAnnan, "To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go, and why you want to get there."

I am learning to listen to my body, honour my needs, and share my gifts from a healed and whole place. This realization is deeply liberating and has reshaped how I approach my work as a peacebuilder.

Another source of joy has been my involvement in The Empowerment Circle with Wazieh and Tom, a community dedicated to self-discovery and inner peace. Through meditative practices and values like kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and wonder; this circle has deepened my capacity for awareness and authenticity. It continues to remind me that true peace begins within and flows outward, enabling us to create a better world together.

Through intentionality and community, I’ve come to see that peace is not just a destination but a continuous practice—one that calls us to lead with love, hope, and resilience.

In all these, I am learning to embody peace, not just advocate for it. Titles like lawyer, barrister, president, policy analyst, focal point personnel are secondary to the essence of being fully human. My work is not about chasing but rather detaching from the survival, scarcity mindset and societal validation. It is about fulfillment and being—allowing what is authentic, impactful, and aligned to flow to me effortlessly.

As I move forward, I am inspired by the interconnectedness of humanity and the belief that we are all capable of profound transformation. Together, with intentional action and collective hope, I believe we can rise to create a more just, inclusive, and peaceful world. 

Hollister: Thank you, Esther. Listening to everything that you said makes me believe, too. What a really, really profound sharing. Esther, thank you so much. Appreciation for you, and so much appreciation for everybody who took the time to really gather your thoughts and share them so beautifully. It feels like just a waterfall of gifts this morning. 

We do have other Peace Practice Alliance alumni in the room that I’d like to acknowledge. Thank you for all you do and are - o many beautiful people, a part of this beautiful work, and who are teaching each other and me so much, so grateful. If anybody would like to share, the floor is yours.

Françoise: Hello, everyone. I'm really glad to be a part of our meeting again. I’m Françoise from Cameroon. I started a peace-building journey with the PPA, and it is quite an interesting one. This journey has come to make me know that there are many things that will not go well if there is no peace.

We are looking forward to having an academy that handles a lot of issues that are around peace in Cameroon. We are located in a very local community called Kulanga, where we work with children and women teaching about building peace. The PPA grant helped us to work with both the women and the children. It was very impactful because Edriss was there with us to introduce the arts and peacebuilding together. The children keep walking into our center. They pick up a paper, they draw what is in their mind, what brings the peace to them, what makes them happy. And I think it's a very good beginning for us. 

We see that it is very necessary for us to get into having an academy where we'll take them into different stages and build their capacity, build peace with them as they grow. Most of them are out of camp refugees who have really gone through a lot of trauma, and that are still going through trauma and need to heal. If they are not healed, society is not healed. They will be the ones to bring back problems in the society.

So we have both the parents and the children, but we really are concentrating on the children because we know that they can effectuate a very long and lasting change.

I don't know if I took a lot of time, but I'm just so excited whenever I have to talk about peace, because deep in me I keep seeing that many things health-wise, economically, socially, so many things go wrong when there is no peace. When there is inner peace in you, yes, it helps and guides you, and there is joy when you are making a decision. So peace is very, very important, both individually, interconnectedly, globally.

Hussain Ali Karimi: Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak. I came to the United States two months ago. Before that, I came from Afghanistan.

Before that, I was voluntarily contributing as a program director at Afghanistan Youth Empowerment and Peacebuilding Organization (AYEPO). From 2019 to 2021, we implemented around 25 programs and projects aimed at peacebuilding in Afghanistan.

We trained around 900 peacebuilders from all across Afghanistan, from all provinces of Afghanistan. Our main mission was to focus on grassroots-level peacebuilding. We strongly believe that peace has to be achieved at the grassroots and local levels. At the macro level, the government might come to an agreement with opposing regimes to achieve political peace, but peace needs to be achieved at the social and cultural level, at the grassroots level, and at the local level.

That’s why we were training youth with interpersonal communication skills, leadership skills, and conflict resolution skills to be agents of positive change. These youth would then return to their provinces and act as agents of change and peacebuilders in their communities and local areas.

Another focus of our programs was the three-step process for achieving peace: One is inner peace, or the peace that has to be achieved within ourselves. Once we are at peace with ourselves, once we have achieved peace inside, we can reflect it at the interpersonal level. From inner peace, we can go to interpersonal peace, and from interpersonal peace, we can go to community peace.

Hollister: Thank you very much! We're at the end of our hour, and I feel like, probably there's so many people on the call that still have stories to share, or insights and inspiration to share. I invite you all to reach out to us. We're going to put a survey in the chat room for people to share about the global connections call, just feedback on this community call.

And in that space, if you have any stories to tell, or any ideas or insights that you'd like to share, I would welcome you to share them in that space.

I'm going to gather everything from today and just do a few little quick summaries of all the stories shared today and put them on our website, if you'll allow me to. So we can share this message more broadly. I think it's really important for us to continue to tell these stories and to continue to share the insights, and brighten up the world with our light and hope, and everything that you all are bringing, and your energy and joy and passion. It's so important, and I'm so grateful to be in community with you.

We want to remind you all that much of what you heard is made possible by the generous support of so many individual donors and organizations that support the work of Euphrates, its peacebuilders, and its people.

Katy:, I just have to say how moved I am by this call. So many incredible program participants and seeing the staff and board and donors and our community members on this call today together, celebrating the end of the year - it just warms my heart so much, so so much.

As Hollister mentioned, it is giving season, and if you are so moved to donate and support us this giving season, we would greatly appreciate it. We always say, every donation matters. That is the truth. Every donation truly, really does matter. We see all of them, and we appreciate all of them. So thank you.

I am looking forward to our next Global Connections call season, which will start back up in February. So we'll see you back in about 2 months. In the meantime, reach out to us at any point if you want to connect or have questions or want to find out more.

Have a wonderful giving and holiday season. Thank you.