Peace Group Talks

So My Heart Can Speak:
A Story of Courage in Rwanda

Sister M. Juvenal of the Benebikira Sisters of Rwanda and Sister Ann Fox will discuss the time of the genocide in Rwanda during 1994 in which over one million people were killed in 100 days. During this time the Benebikira Sisters provided singular and heroic leadership and courage in sheltering children, women and elders, and boldly facing those responsible for the genocide. They will also discuss their central role in the remarkable recovery and transformation now taking place throughout Rwanda and share their insights about the country, culture and history of Rwanda.

For their outstanding courage and compassion the Benebikira Sisters were presented with the Courage of Conscience Award by The Peace Abbey on September 26, 2010.

Sister M. Juvenal Mukamurama is the former Superior General of the Benebikira Sisters and is currently studying in the graduate programs at Lesley University and Boston College. Sister Ann Fox is the Co-Director of the Paraclete Foundation that has overseen fund-raising and construction of schools for children, as well as many other services and projects in Rwanda.

The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is being held on Sunday, November 14, 2010, at 7:00 PM at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street. People should park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education house, and enter the church using the door at the front of the church.

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Practices of Peace and Nonviolence

Claude AnShin Thomas, the author of the best selling book “AT HELL'S GATE: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace” will speak on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library. The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group. In this talk Claude AnShin recounts his dramatic coming-of-age story and spiritual odyssey from combat soldier to Zen Buddhist Monk, International Advocate of Nonviolence, and Author. He offers profound insight into ways we can transform suffering and violence in our own lives and therefore in our world. His struggle to deal with the trauma of his childhood and the war in Vietnam and to find personal peace and spiritual insight is a prism through which to view America over the last thirty years – our difficulty in coming to terms with the legacy of Vietnam, our spiritual hunger, and our need to come to terms with our massive power and our use of violence.

“Everyone has their Vietnam,” Claude writes, “everyone has experienced trauma and everyone, if they want, can find healing and peace through looking deeply at the nature of their suffering. War is a collective expression of individual suffering.” The seeds of war and violence are planted early and often, and it is only through our actions and insights personally that we can hope to end war globally. What is startling in these days of the “war on terrorism” is that we rarely hear from the soldiers themselves. As a highly decorated helicopter crew chief who was wounded in battle and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, Claude AnShin speaks with an authenticity and an honesty that is extremely compelling to a wide audience. He can speak with direct experience about the realities of war, about what we are sending young men and women to do, and about the effect that making war has on all of us.