October News

Lucy is an IIRP Certified Trainer! 

Lucy has been an integral part of our work with restorative practices since the beginning, but in October she made it official by joining the ranks of a global community of certified trainers in restorative practices. This certification means that Lucy is now able to train people in the fundamentals of restorative practices and award them with a certificate verified by the International Institute of Restorative Practices. 

Flor is a Board Member of IIRP! 

After years of working closely with IIRP as a trainer and facilitator of restorative practices, Flor has joined the board of directors for this international institution. Her introduction to the group was formalized this month as she flew to Bethlehem Pennsylvania to participate in board meetings as well as the three day annual world conference on restorative practices that IIRP hosts. This new opportunity for Flor connects ALG to a whole new network of people and ideas that we believe will supplement and support the powerful work of our organization. 

Working on Peace in Guatemala with the German Embassy

ALG was invited by the German Embassy to participate in a program they are running to help the country heal from the thirty-year internal armed conflict that ended in 1996. For us at ALG this is a very important cause, the country is in many ways still wounded from the atrocities that occurred in those thirty years. In collaboration with the project of the embassy, we facilitated a circle with the members of the German Embassy team, as well as several representatives and directors of local organizations who work to seek justice for the harm caused. We hope it is the first of many collaborations. 

Development in the Organization of the International Collective of Restorative Practitioners

Two years ago we founded el Colectivo Internacional de Practicantes Restaurativas alongside restorative practitioners from across Guatemala. In these last two years the collective has grown to over eighty members and we have hosted several webinars, held many trainings, facilitated circles, and shared resources and experiences — we even started a research project with John Jay College! As we approached our third year, however, ALG began to reflect all that we had accomplished so far, and what we hoped to accomplish in the future. Ultimately, this conversation led to some restructuring within the collective, which we believe will lead to increase in the use and expansion of restorative practices across the region. Stay tuned for more updates from us about the collective and its projects. We have only just begun.