"This was the best workshop I ever attended and it was the
best Christmas present I could ever receive," Joseph Ngala stated with
enthusiasm. People for Peace in Africa (PPA) sponsored a three day workshop in
Nairobi, Kenya for 18 Rwandese and Burundian refugee youth, ages nine to 16,
most of whom where orphans. The Rwandese Initiative for Counseling
representatives helped with the occasion which took place the three days before
Christmas, 1996.

    I was invited for a small part the last day to give a talk
on Christmas and peace and celebrate the closing liturgy. Several of the
children had come to Nairobi recently and it
was obvious that they were still traumatized. However I was impressed by how
responsive the children were overall to every activity and, even though they had
not known each other before, how they had formed a real community so quickly.

    One of the resolutions from the workshop was to form a
club called "Youth for Peace in the Great Lakes Region.” The group wants more
seminars so that they can share the knowledge of peace and reconciliation among
the Rwanda and Burundi youth. Besides asking help with the formation of the
club, the youth also ask PPA to facilitate linkage between the Rwandese and
Burundian youth both in the Diaspora and at home in the peace, justice and
reconciliation process. It was an impressive beginning from people so young.