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Village Earth

Amahoro Project: Linking Sustainable Development With Restorative Educational Innovations to Prepare New Leaders to Heal and Foster Civil Society in Burundi

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“Amahoro” is the Kirundi word for peace. Founded in 1999 with a commitment to peace and reconciliation, its University of Ngozi (UNG) is uniquely situated to be a laboratory for peace-building and sustainable development and the Amahoro Project hopes to help lead the way. We recognize that economic development will suffer if violence continues and that peace will be a casualty if communities remain mired in poverty.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, emerging from colonization and forty years of violence. Recent conflicts currently threaten the last eight years of stability but conditions in the region of Ngozi have remained peaceful for many years and that is one of the principle reasons why we are working there.

Those committed to this project believe that sustainable development must wed with restorative educational innovations to prepare new leaders to heal and foster civil society as basic infrastructure needs are addressed. In all our endeavors, we propose to use locally generated and regionally applicable case-based, problem-based, and project-based learning along with ideas and skills for peace building (i.e., improved communication, cooperation, conflict resolution and more) to transform surface or memorized learning into a greater emphasis on critical and creative thinking.

Over the course of this project, the UNG will be established as a viable center for research and development in sustainable peace and development. With this grant, those at the UNG can help Burundi forge (1) a recovery and rebirth of spirit, (2) reconcile wounds, differences, rivalries, prejudices, and hatreds, (3) resolve to understand the truth of the past, fix the present, and prepare for a better future; and (4) reinforce the resilience needed to rebuild an impoverished, post-colonial nation.

Upcoming Courses in the Village Earth/CSU Online Certificate Program in Community-Based Development

Fall I Session

GSLL 1518 – Community-Based Food Systems

During this five week course, you will learn about various approaches to building community-based food systems and movements for food justice around the world. Together, we will evaluate successful efforts at food system relocalization and the protection of community food resources, as well as the factors that threaten these efforts.

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Summer II Session

GSLL 1501 – Approaches to Community Development

This course provides a framework for community development based on a participatory, bottom-up, multi-sector model. Various approaches have been used in community development with varying degrees of success. One approach that has consistently demonstrated effectiveness is the Village Earth model based on participatory practices.

Through personal and structural empowerment, the objectives of economic well-being, environmental sustainability, and socio-cultural vitalization can be met. By looking at an overview of the entire development process and using case studies, this course will prepare participants to work in the field of community development and illuminate how all of the development efforts fit together to support the overall goal of sustainability.

Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:

Compare different development approaches and evaluate their effectiveness.
Understand the basic principles that underlie sustainable development.
Incorporate participatory practices into community development activities
Design a development project based on the Village Earth model
Who should take this course? This course is suited for people who are interested in community development and work or plan to work in this field. This includes people working or volunteering at NGOs, NPOs, governmental organizations, without border organizations, or missionary organizations. In addition, people involved in funding community development projects benefit from this course.

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