Only one month left until everyday gandhis will host the premiere screening of our new documentary film, THE FIGHT TO FORGIVE: From Child Soldiers to Peacebuilders.

Please join us on May 31^st as we proudly raise the curtains for our official debut of this remarkably intimate film.

The event is being held at the Delancey Street Screening Room @ 600 The Embarcadero in San Francisco, CA.

From 6 to 9 pm we will fill the venue with philosophers, therapists, artists, activists, and students as we witness the artful portrayal of former child soldiers and war-affected youth as they learn to forgive- both themselves and the adults that forced them to kill.

The evening will include a reception, a silent art auction as well as the screening, and will be concluded with an interactive conversation between the audience, two of the young men featured in the film and the director, Cynthia Travis.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet two exceptional young men, Lassana Kanneh and Varlee Sheriff, who have lived through one of Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, faced profound challenges to heal from the atrocities of war, and are now proclaimed peacebuilders and U.S. college students. Hear what they have to say about the redemptive powers of forgiveness and what it means to be a peacebuilder.

Below are a couple of clips from the film for your preview:

Click on this link to hear Lassana speak about change: https://vimeo.com/64830991

Click on this link to hear Varlee speak about empathy: https://vimeo.com/64857927

We would like to thank the generous supporters for helping this event realize its potential!

                                La Boulange Bakery (Union Street)

Rainbow Market

Mariposa Bakery

We look forward to seeing you the evening of the 31^st at the Delancey Street Screening Room!

Please RSVP to amy@everydaygandhis.org

Our own Cynthia Travis, was a featured guest on Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio yesterday, April 24th.  Cynthia was accompanied by Bryan Single, the director and producer of the award winning documentary, “Children of War,” and Jane Ekayu, the founder of Children of Peace Uganda.

These three brilliant and compassionate thinkers inspired a sensational and informative show, disclosing their various approaches to trauma healing. After having spent years dedicating their work to post-war rehabilitation for child soldiers, they understand the extent of human pain and are leading the world in discovering how to remedy it.

If you missed the live version of this dynamic conversation, you can listen to the podcast by visiting this website: http://www.toginet.com/shows/harvestinghappiness.

Or listen to it through the iTunes Podcast!!

Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio
12:00 P.M. EST/ 9:00 A.M. PST

Featured Guest on Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, Cynthia Travis

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” -Albert Einstein

Lets find an understanding, and lets start by listening in on people who are well versed on working toward one!

Cynthia Travis, the founder of everyday gandhis, will be a guest on Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, hosted by Lisa Cypers Kamen.  Cynthia will be among two other guests, Bryan Single and Jane Ekayu from www.childrenofwarfilm.com, in providing multiple perspectives on two of the worst epicenters of child soldiering- East and West Africa.

They will be participating in a collaborative conversation on identifying the impetus behind such violent phenomena as child soldiering, and engaging in an analytical discussion on proposed methods of prevention.

Join us in a promotion of peace led by those who have dedicated their life to isolating and extricating its opposition!

The show will air on Wednesday, April 24^th at 9:00 A.M. PST/ 12:00 P.M EST.

Listeners tune in by going to www.toginet.com and clicking on the “Listen Live” button on the upper right corner. If you would like to call-in questions, the number is 877-864-4869.

We also invite guests to log into the live chat – accessed from the Toginet home page, www.toginet.com and click on Live Chat.  This is where guests, hosts and the show producer can communicate.  Please log in if you can.

Once you click LIVE CHAT…the AJAX Chat/Togichat login will come up. You can simply enter a screen name. There is no need to have a password and you will enter the chat.

THE FIGHT TO FORGIVE is a lesson on the hard, personal work that peace requires and offers an inspirational model for grassroots peacebuilding across the world.

Hosted by the influential organization, A Year Without War, everyday gandhis would like to announce the launch of our new documentary film, The Fight to Forgive, with a screening on April 26^th at Santa Barbara City College.  Please join us as we commence our California screening tour in one of the most beautiful cities on the West Coast.

Come prepared to experience a visually compelling narrative on the human quest for love’s healing benefaction within the aftermath of its adversary- war.  The film’s intimate detail on six young men coping with the residual pain of Liberia’s civil war, make it as harrowing as it is inspiring. The only redemptive clauses to crimes committed against humanity are the lessons captured within the passion of their aftermath.  Come learn from the story of these young men, who once fought as child soldiers, as they attempt to, not only reintegrate into society, but to excel as peacebuilders.

The film will be followed by an interactive conversation led by the director, Cynthia Travis, and accompanied by one of the remarkable young men featured in the film, Varlee Sheriff.  The dialogue sung at this event will initiate and set the precedent for an open-ended discussion which will resonate up the California Coast as we head to the San Francisco Bay Area for our grassroots pilot project in late May.

The screening begins at 4pm and is taking place at the Business and Communication Center on the West Campus of Santa Barbara City College.  Admission is free, although donations are appreciated, and we encourage you pass along the invitation!! Look forward to seeing you there!

To learn more about our partner organization, A Year Without War, please click HERE.

For in-depth information on the film, The Fight to Forgive, please click HERE

We are pleased and proud to announce that our second scholarship recipient, Varlee Sheriff, has arrived in America and is settling into his new domain at Foothill College in Mountain View, California.  Varlee is shining bright with pride in his achievements, academically and otherwise.  That feeling couldn’t be more deserved as we attempt to ponder what obstacles one must face in journeying from child refugee to full-fledged college student.

I had the privilege of spending a week with Varlee upon his arrival into the states.  Witnessing his unabashed excitement at stepping foot onto his new campus was incredibly rewarding, as his soul soared with an infectious freedom.  He is a young man who recognizes his dreams to be as attainable as his endowed capability to overcome and persevere.

After the time I spent with this remarkable young man, I came to wholly appreciate that love, truly mastered, attains a perennial quality that exists as the most indomitable mechanism in the face of challenge. Varlee stands as an adept teacher in the lessons of unabashed kindness and the strength of compassion.  He quickly wins the hearts of everyone he meets.

He will be studying computer science with a hope of transferring to a four-year university.  Among those he’s interested in is Stanford, which neighbors his current campus and offers proximal encouragement.

His gratitude is sincere toward all of the individuals, including everyday gandhis and its supporters, who have helped him through to this new juncture in life.  Varlee opted for homestay accommodations and just moved in with his host family this week.  He is endowed with all of the necessary academic materials to start off on the right foot, and in conjunction with his natural inclination toward hard work, we know Varlee’s story will continue on as inspiring as ever.

Lassana Kanneh, Ezekiel Mavolo, and Varlee Sheriff will be attending school in the US and will be touring with the film during the campaign to contribute to panel discussions and workshops related to the screenings. We are so thrilled to have them here!

The schedule thus far includes:

March 29^th- Screening and presentation with Director, Cynthia Travis and Lassana, Ezekiel and Varlee in Los Angeles, CA (location TBA).

April 26^th- Screening and presentation at Antioch University in Santa Barbara, CA in collaboration with the unique organization, A Year Without War: http://ayearwithoutwar.org/.

May 30- 31^st- Grassroots Pilot Project in the Bay Area! This exciting event will include workshops, screenings and panels in San Francisco and Oakland, CA.

May or June- Screening and Presentation at the University of California, Santa Barbara in collaboration with the Universal Peace Organization (date and location TBA)

We look forward to seeing you at one of the events during the campaign!

If you or someone you know is interested in hosting or setting up an event as part of our grassroots screening project, please contact our Media Coordinator, Ana Brush at ana@everydaygandhis.org.

www.thefighttoforgive.com 

Our Educational and Community Outreach Campaign begins this month and we will have various events throughout the US at Community organizations and Universities. Join us at an event near you! If you would like to sponsor an event, please email ana@everydaygandhis.org.

What an exciting New Year it has been so far! We hope you are enjoying 2013 and we want to thank all of our supporters for their help of supporting our Future Guardian of Peace, Akoi Mawolo, during the Aid Akoi Campaign. We are continuing to work to get him the surgery he needs, if you would still like to help, please visit our Donate Page.

With much gratitude, we wish you a thrilling year ahead!

We are excited to announce that everyday gandhis has launched a new campaign to fund a critical brain surgery operation for our sponsored student, Akoi Mawolo.   Akoi is an exceptional young man with a bright future, and he deserves a chance to bring peace and happiness to the people that surround him.  The campaign was launched using Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform at: www.indiegogo.com/aidakoi, where you can learn about rewards for donations, track our progress, and read more about Akoi and his journey.  Below is a personal biography written by Akoi to get the campaign started.  Every little bit counts… Thank you for your support!

“My name is Akoi Mawolo and I was born on October 24, 1986 in Voinjama city, Liberia, West Africa. I was very small, only 11 years old, when I was separated from my parents by the (LURD) rebels. In 1999, the (LURD) rebels captured Voinjama, Lofa County spent a couple of months there because the government troops could not remove them. One morning, while hidden in the bush, we saw the rebels surrounding us. The first man said, “no one moves!” We were all under gunpoint. There were over fifteen men, all well armed. My grandmother began to cry when she saw the group of men. After they searched all our materials, their chief said to my mother that they were going to carry me along. My mother began to cry because I was the only son of my parents that was grown up. My father was not with us. They told me to take their bags and my mother and sisters started crying while I bid my mother goodbye.

I was with them when they kidnapped more young boys, over ten youth from my hometown of Zawordamai. We were taken to their main base in Kolahun, Lofa County to be trained. Some people could not stand the struggle for the three months we were training; some died because of hunger, while others died from low pressure; we were very few that graduated. We had learned how to dismantle weapons and put them back together and how to take cover when alarm blows on the frontline and you see your enemy. Then they began to send us on the battlefield. I was assigned to the training commander, and later I was sent on the frontline to fight. I began to be brave so most of the generals began to like me. One of my former commanders by the name of “Sea Never Dry” taught me how to use the infantry radio and the base radio. Everywhere we went I was highly respected, I had people assigned with me to guide me where we went. Yet still I was forced to do things that were not to my satisfaction like to take drugs and so many other things.

In March 2003, I sustained a major injury to my head that caused the left side of my body to be paralyzed, including my leg and my hand. Sometimes I suffer from seizures and most of the time I have headaches. When I was wounded, I never got good treatment because Liberia does not have the healthcare that I need; only first aid was given to me up to now.

After the war, I went back to my parents. Of course, they were not excepting me in this pitiful condition. Yet still, they never rejected me but they began to comfort me about the situation I found myself in. My mother loves me so much and is worried about my condition. In 2005, I told my mother that with all the hard times I experienced, I needed to go back to school and she supported the idea.

In 2005 I started going to school. From there, I set up my goal to become a Sociologist. I realized that from my childhood, I have been a leader among my peers. I have been given the talent to be able to work with people, especially in my community and they respect me based on how I understand situation and how to resolve it. I think people respect me because of my commitment to the community, how transparent I am with them, and the way in which I value everyone equally. I take pleasure in working with people because it helps me to get closer to an individual or group of people and interact with them on a different level. By interacting with someone and hearing their story, it allows me to understand human action and consciousness.

I know that I am capable of creating awareness around peace. I do this in many ways including working with orphans by sharing their stories with others, taking photographs in the community of events and people, and helping to organize workshops. I also help to organize football games that bring the youth together.

I want to help the people around me by sharing my experiences of life, the kind of struggles I passed through, and the dreams I have for my future.“

To donate, please visit the campaign at: www.indiegogo.com/aidakoi

Last week we shared the story of Akoi Mawolo, a former child soldier who has overcome great adversity to become an asset to his community and a Future Guardian of Peace.  Now, Akoi has taken the time to share his story of the time he has spent giving back to his community members by volunteering at a local orphanage, and the stories he has learned from the special people there…

“In May 2005, Comfort K Toe orphanage was established through the assistance of the 92^nd Irish Battalion of the UN. The orphanage helps youth who are homeless and has been so helpful to the community, especially the Kulaken community located in Breweville City, Monrovia, Liberia. I had been to this orphanage several times working along with Agatha Valic to do some publicity for the orphanage by taking photos of some of their activities and sending them to her in the US.

Agatha Valic got to know me when I was attending Ricks Institute. She came to Ricks to do some volunteer work when I met her and we became friends. When I got to know her more, she actually gave me some positive advice for my life.  When she knew that I was a photographer, she encouraged me to continue with it. September 1^st 2012 I got a call from Agatha asking me to do some photographs for the orphanage and sent them to her and I was happy to help her with that because I enjoy taking photos.

When I thought on community service, I said to myself that it would be helpful for me to volunteer with some of the kids that I already know because it will help me build my own self-confidence in working with people in the future and I would be helping youth as well. I decided to ask Agatha if she could allow me to get some interesting stories from the kids and she told me that we can all help to raise awareness for these orphans by sharing their stories with people so that they can get help in the future.  I went there on the 22^nd November and met the lady who takes care of the children.

I asked her how she gets food, clothes, and other Items for the orphans and she told me that since the Irish Battalion left, the Christian Aid Ministries had been doing well for them when it comes to food and other needs. They supply them every month with food and sometimes with clothes. They are also running a school from Kindergarten to 7^th grade. I also asked her how do you compensate the teachers who teach these kids? She in fact told me that over the past years she’s been paying the teachers. Only this year Agatha wrote the request on their website for help with funding, and presently donors are helping to support the orphanage. She is now taking care of seventy- five orphans.

While there I did an interview with one of the orphans by the name of Johnny Toe. Johnny said he was very small when he stopped seeing his mother because during the Liberian civil war his father was killed and when his mother went to look for food, the rebels attacked and she went in a different direction. The lady who runs the orphanage was with Johnny in the bush and she took him along with her. Since then he been living with the woman at the orphanage. I asked him if he heard from his mother since the war was over. He said to me that people only tell him that his mother is alive, but she is living in Gbopolu County. He said that he really missed his mother, so he decided in December he wanted to go and search for her. When Johnny is playing among his friends, he feels fine, but when he thinks about his father’s death, he feels alone. Thank you for sharing your story Johnny.

After all these activities, I took photographs of everyone and the and then came home the following day.”

We are pleased to announce that everyday gandhis will be facilitating a campaign to fund Akoi’s much-needed brain surgery to stop his seizures.  Please check in with us next week for full details and how to support him!

If you would like to learn more about our educational scholarship program and how you can help, click here <http://www.everydaygandhis.org/programs-scholarship-fund/>.

A Year Without War is a dedicated community of people around the world with a common desire of 2020 being a year without war. Each person that joins brings us one step closer to our goal. People are tired of seeing the world in its constant state of crisis; there are other options to conflict resolution. We are more connected through technology then ever before. Let’s learn, share and grow together for a common purpose. We ask people to adopt the idea of A Year Without War and encourage them to learn about it, and share it throughout their community. Through grassroots initiatives, partnerships, sponsorships, and lobbying of government figures around the world, we believe that a global ceasefire in the year 2020 can be achieved. Remember the Civil Rights movement, Women’s Suffrage movement, & the landing on the moon? People throughout history have proved that the impossible is very possible with a communal effort.

AYWW is very happy to have partnered with everyday gandhis. It takes the effort of the masses to create change. We invite you to join us at ayearwithoutwar.org. Let’s be the change.