[Linda Heacock recently returned from a 6-week trip to Kenya as part of on "Embraced Ministry "* endorsed by her Meeting, Richmond Friends. in the spring of 2005, and subsequently approved by Baltimore Yearly Meeting at the 2005 Annual Session.]

. My ministry with Friends Peace Teams (FPT) evolved out of a strong personal leading to offer training and skills gained over the years in the field of alternatives to violence education, as a resource to the work being done in Kenya and parts of Africa through FPT's African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI). With overwhelming support received from my Meeting, Yearly Meeting, my ministry support committee, family, and friends, my leading became reality in September of 2005, when I embarked on a 6-week Journey to Kenya. I Joined a peace team of Kenyan facilitators to deliver Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops in Western Kenya and Nairobi. The program is a joint collaborative effort of FPT-AGLI and the Kenyan organization, Friends for Peace and Community Development (FPCD). AVP was originally founded in the United States in the 1970's by Quakers in their work with prison populations. It is now international in scope with programs in many countries on nearly every continent. The program is still in its infancy in Kenya, and so they are very dependent on the resources and leadership offered by the African Great Lakes Initiative. AGLI supports and promotes peace activities at the grassroots level in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. In collaboration with yearly meetings and other peacemaking organizations in the area, AGLI works together with native people in local communities to deliver programs and training, and promote deeper understanding and community between Friends in Africa and those in the United States.

The major focus of my trip was devoted to facilitating a series of five 3-day AVP workshops to a diverse group of participants; including Friends church members, community officials, police, teachers, police, and youth. Much of my time was also spent meeting with Quaker activists and leaders in Kenya, attending Quaker worship services, and visiting several of the many programs under the auspices of FPCD and collaborating Yearly Meetings. I learned that FPCD also sponsors orphan support groups (caregivers of children orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic), programs on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, women empowerment programs, and an extensive youth program that includes peer education, community outreach, economic empowerment, and the use of participatory drama focusing on pertinent issues such as gender-based violence, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS.

Among the most meaningful experiences I had while in Kenya was witnessing the profound impact of AVP on its participants. I believe the AVP training has been so universally effective because of its concept of "Transforming Power",which is the core philosophy of AVP. To me Transforming Power is synonymous with the Quaker "Inner Light", the belief that there is `that of God' in every human being. In our workshops, following an initial phase of building trust and community, each group would inevitably begin to reveal their personal stories ­ through conflict scenarios shared in small groups, in role plays, and large group discussions. It soon became apparent that no one had escaped incidences of overt violence in their lives. Violent outcomes - or the potential for violence - were shared in countless examples: disputes over land or animals, quarreling between neighbors, domestic violence, alcoholism, and extra-marital affairs. The training presented our participants with many questions; some seemed almost desperate for answers - how do I deal with drunkenness and violence in my family, how can I personally confront the HIV/AIDS pandemic, what can I do about my anger?? Perhaps because, collectively, these participants have experienced their share of violence in their lives, we found in general they seemed to have understood the roots of violence in all its forms almost without question. They were ready and willing to look at its alternatives and how to apply them. This may explain why our experiential exercises and role plays were so effective at each level of the workshops. Over and over again, evidence of "Transforming Power" was both demonstrated and noted by our participants.

In my 6 weeks of living and working with the people of Kenya, I was privileged to learn much about and appreciate their everyday life and culture. I found I began taking certain inconveniences - lack of plumbing, electricity, modern transportation-in stride. They were overshadowed by the intense richness in the quality of my daily interactions with the environment and the people. I wrote of my experience of the people in my daily Kenyan journal:

'There is a spirit of perseverance and determination in the face of many odds. The average citizen has experienced their share of hardship. Because of a severe  shortage of medical care, and the prevalence of AIDS, malaria, TB and other disease, most people have lived through the death of multiple family members by the time they have reached adulthood. I find that those I am living and working among demonstrate a genuine acceptance of and appreciation for the good things life has to offer; instead of dwelling on hardship and diversity. They grieve, let go, and move on. Those I meet often appear to be living life to the fullest, reaping gratitude and joy from the little they have.'

I have learned that there are more Quakers in Kenya than there are on the entire planet, and that there is an enormous amount of visible grass roots work being done in the region by Quakers-Friends' Churches and organizations - in the name of peace and non-violence. I am left wondering what Friends in the West can learn from this amazing level of priority and commitment in service to others. Our own Meeting, as well as other Meetings within BYM as members of Friends United Meeting, has recently expressed an intention to look for more common ground with FUM. This discussion has led to the suggestion that we can search for individual or corporate ways to support FUM's strong peace and justice witness, testimonies with which we are in unity. I strongly resonate with this idea. Friends in Kenya are deeply indebted to the help that comes from the US through programs such as AVP and the other projects of Friends Peace Teams, AGLI.

My life will forever be changed from all I have seen and experienced while in Kenya. I am now even more convinced that the intentions of the Spirit are for me to continue to be an instrument for the work in Kenya, and to do my part to strengthen the "common ground" supporting our joint testimonies of peace and nonviolence.

*Guidelines, Embracing the Ministry of Friends, BYM Committee for the Nurture and Recognition of Ministry Committee and Ministry and Counsel Committee, May 2000