Search for Common Ground will support courageous Burundians who saved the lives of people of the other ethnic group to form an association of "Heroes" that will promote inter-ethnic cooperation.
Many ordinary Burundians had the courage to say ‘no’ to the cycles of ethnic violence. In April 2004, 200 of these "Heroes" were invited by Search for Common Ground to a historic Heroes Summit. The main recommendation of these courageous Burundians was to establish an association of Heroes in Burundi and the Great Lakes region. This association will enable them to continue to highlight these positive examples of humanity, and network with other peacebuiders in the Great Lakes region.
SFCG will assist Heroes in creating an association that will engage in peacebuilding and reconciliation activities around Burundi. The association will also make trips to Rwanda and Congo to reach out to other Heroes and explore regional activities.
A network of Burundian Heroes will have strengthened capacity as peacemakers. Burundians all across the country will be inspired by the example of inter-ethnic understanding modeled by the Heroes, who will be cooperating across the region.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
