The Graduates of the Month of September

The month of September we accomplished quite a bit in the promotion of our mission. Read on below for a taste of the work we did in September.

Graduation

Congratulations to ALG’s Certificate in Leadership and Collaboration cohort of 2019! This year we graduated 32 leaders representing 12 different parts of Guatemala and El Salvador. They join a network of more than 120 leaders.  

Panamá

Early in the month of September, Flor went to Panama by the request of Fundación Amaneceres to offer facilitation in an informal Restorative Practice as well as co-facilitate a workshop on an Art of Hosting social technology called Strategic Re-Structuring. During this trip she was able to visit three local NGO’s who are interested in participating in our programs. She went in collaboration with Miguel Tello of the Strachan Foundation and left Pananá with exciting new ideas and wonderful new members of the network. 

SERES

In September, team members Bekah and Lucy facilitated four sessions of training in Restorative Practices for a group of community leaders in the refugee camps for the people displaced by Volcano Fuego’s fatal eruption of June 2018. The participants of the training were eager to begin implementing these practices first within their own families, and then later within their communities on the whole in an effort to shift the paradigm of the community from punitive to restorative. This project was made possible through a collaboration between ALG and SERES, an organization that works mostly with the youth of that area, but also with the community leaders, to create change. 

IIRP Training

At the end of this month, the ALG team, in collaboration with faculty member Roberto Tun led a training for 22 people. In the two days the participants were introduced to the basics of Restorative Practices, facilitating talking circles, and gave out certificates recognized by the International Institute of Restorative Practices.  We are always delighted to release new practitioners into the world -- more practitioners, more peace!

Miki Kashtan

For a week in September Bekah participated in a retreat led by Miki Kashtan. The focus of the retreat was Non-Violent Communication, and it featured presentations from people across Central America who are working in nonviolent communication or peacemaking. During the week, Bekah has the opportunity to offer a workshop on leadership and facilitation, and many opportunities to learn new things that will enhance the programs we offer.