Mennonite Central Committee

Written by Linda Espenshade

Daily family conflict controlled Jean Paul Hagenimana’s life. Pastor Prosper Muzaliwa was limited by his beliefs that excluded people. Clementine Uwimana was consumed by hatred for the ethnic group responsible for her mother’s death.

All of these people, embroiled in their own kind of personal turmoil, live in Rwanda, a country recovering from years of ethnic violence and tensions between Hutus and Tutsis and the genocide of 1994.

By Matthew Kistler



NAJILE, Kenya – A goat project among Kenya’s Maasai people is giving birth to more than baby goats. It’s powering to life a cooperative group ethic that is helping 2,000 Maasai families cope with cultural change and ecological challenges.



The Maasai, traditionally pastoralists, have struggled for years to redefine themselves in light of reduced grazing land, pressure to abandon their nomadic way of life and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Written by Karina Daum



Stephen Esaki, 27, dragged himself into his host family’s home in Tete, Mozambique. He was ready to jump onto the couch and kick back after building sand dams all day, but his host sister already had the couch occupied. This familiar situation reminded him of his high school years in Aapaa, Hawaii, when he would come home to find his own sister sprawled on the couch.

This robotic looking creature is actually a sculpture made up of destroyed weapons from the war of destabilization (1980's & 1990's) waged against the Mozambican government by a dissident group called Renamo. This group was funded and trained primarily by the South African military structure during the Apartheid era (although other western countries supported this war of destabilization) and internally in Mozambique had a certain very limited support.

Written By Linda Espenshade

As people of South Sudan eagerly anticipate the official creation of their newly independent country on July 9, their hope is tempered by the realities of increased tensions and the recognition of difficult economic and political challenges ahead. 



Written by Gladys Terichow

Memories of his near-death experience during the 2002 political unrest in Zimbabwe are never far from Bhekimpilo Moyo’s mind.

Captured by a group of men who wanted to kill him, Moyo felt his best chance for survival would be to tell them that they had captured the wrong man and that his name was James.

The men didn’t believe him. They tied his hands behind his back, beat him up and started to take him to the house where they were staying.

Written by Linda Espenshade

Nigerians fear that April elections may spike already increased violence following on the heels of December bombings in the city of Jos and the subsequent killing of more than 200 people in Plateau State, where Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) staff and most of its program is based.

Plateau State is the area of Nigeria where the predominantly Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south. Violent conflict in this area dates back to 2001 as the two groups compete for political power and control of land.

Written by Marla Pierson Lester

Diabetes is a serious health threat to anyone, but it can be particularly devastating in places such as Webuye, Kenya, where many can’t afford equipment to test their blood sugar or medicine to control the condition.

Written by Gladys Terichow

It was a reunion of friends when Sibusiso Ndzimandze, a peace educator from Swaziland, stayed in the home of Gord and Lynne Ball during a recent 10-day visit to Ontario.

Around the kitchen table in Oakville, a city west of Toronto, the Balls reflected on their experiences as participants in a learning team from their congregation that visited southern Africa. During this trip in 2009, they met Ndzimandze, whom they now count a friend.

Written by Marla Pierson Lester

As southern Sudan moves toward becoming the world’s newest nation this July, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) workers in the war-torn region see people’s jubilation in the outcome of a January vote for independence – and a sense of the challenges in store for the new country.