The Caux Scholars Program is moving full speed ahead into its 21st year! We received over 50 applications from over 30 countries. The applicants ranged in age from 21 to 42 and hailed from countries as diverse as Syria, Kenya, Tajikistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sudan, Myanmar, and the US!

We are pleased to introduce the 2013 class of Caux Scholars. We will be posting each of their bios in the coming weeks. We know you will be excited by the outstanding quality of this class. However, many of them are looking for financial assistance to actually get there so we ask you to please consider helping build the scholarship funds needed for the 2013 program.

Dans le cadre du programme Initiative Dialogue, l’association Initiatives et Changement a le plaisir de vous inviter à une conférence-débat sur le thème,  :

"Qu'est-ce que réussir aujourd'hui en France?
Entre mémoires des parents et réalités sociales"

le mardi 19 mars 2013, à 20 h

Diana Damsa, from Baia Mare, Romania, spent 10 weeks as an international intern with Hope in the Cities last fall. As a result a partnership is growing between Richmond and the Healing the Past project in Ukraine.

The Caux Scholars class of 2012 have each written a letter back to the Caux Scholars community. Many describe what they took away from the program and how they are applying what they learned in their lives now. We share their letters with you.

Rev. Sylvester “Tee” Turner, director of reconciliation programs with IofC, was the guest speaker at a Celebration of Emancipation and Recommitment to Reconciliation at Little Fork Episcopal Church in rural Rixeyville, VA, on February 23. The church, built in 1776, was a focus of activity by both North and South during the Civil War, and members wanted it to play a part in increasing trust and understanding across divides in the community today.

"We had separate water fountains, bathrooms and bus seats.  But Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King fixed things." Frankie once said that in class but he wasn't the first and won't be the last. Schools often scratch the surface of civil rights, teaching the same few stories, about the same few famed people.

Curtains closed at the Third Eastern Africa Youth Forum (EAYF) on Saturday 23 February 2013 with a rallying call for the youth to be ambassadors of morality! The five day conference shared great success lessons from Rwanda sparking hope among the young people who attended it. The forum brought together over 90 youths from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan as well as friends of goodwill from South Africa, Congo, Australia and Germany. The forum opened on Tuesday 19 February and ran for five days. The theme for the forum was ‘Moral Values: The Key to a Brighter Future.’

It is action time! These were the words uttered by the Kithoka community women in Meru during the recently held three day Creators of Peace workshop.

In the beginning of January, Initiatives of Change  (IofC) Kenya officially launched Clean Elections Campaign as political storms took centre stage across the country. With the elections taking place on 4 March, many people’s focus is to ensure that the general elections are held free and fair and that by every means possible to advocate for violence-free elections.