In past decades an Encuentro de las Americas (Meeting of the Americas) was a regular fixture, bringing together people active in MRA/IofC in the Americas. But since 2014 there has been no Encuentro. Early in January a revival brought Americans from 14 countries of South, Central and North America to Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil. Others joined online from many countries.
This was a well-prepared Encuentro, developed through 18 months of work to strengthen the foundations for effective work across the continent, especially in Latin America. For four years a weekly iListen online meeting has brought together 40-60 Spanish and Portuguese speakers throughout Latin America. The manual of the Trustbuilding Program has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese, as have several books on the work of MRA/IofC. And Latin Americans, both Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking, have trained as facilitators for IofC’s Creators of Peace programme.
During the days together we heard of initiatives widely across the Americas. Educator Pilar Griffin from Costa Rica and Seattle, told of helping young people to find purpose and direction through the internet ‘iListen for teenagers’; IofC USA Executive Director Allan-Charles Chipman spoke on grappling with racial division and conflict in the USA; Vice-President of IofC Brazil Jeferson Barros spoke of the role of the Sitio San Luis conference centre in supporting victims of the landslide disaster in Petropolis which forced 50,000 people from their homes; Rodrigo Martinez told of the growth of a network of people working to strengthen the role of conscience in Mexican politics.
There were also online contributions. First Nations Canadian leader Lewis Cardinal, initiator of the Global Indigenous Dialogue, told of his work towards reconciliation between the First Nations and the wider Canadian community. Carmen Lucia Bohorquez from Colombia, who translated IofC's Trustbuilding manual into Spanish, told of years of work bringing together FARC ex-combatants with army personnel who had been kidnapped by FARC, and women who had been abused, and described conversations towards healing and restoring trust. And from Costa Rica, Eliezer Cifuentes spoke from the heart on what he owed to MRA/IofC in his struggle for truth, healing and justice in his country’s national affairs.
There was recognition of failure as well as success, and a wholehearted apology to people who had suffered from one such failure. This has opened up new opportunities for cooperative action, both within and across national borders.
The Encuentro looked forward to the year ahead. Latin Americans have sought the support of the Trustbuilding Program for an initiative in their region, but a clear initiative with adequate local support has not yet emerged. To meet this need, leaders of the Program Talia Smith, Barry Hart and Ram Bhagat led nine hours of workshops on trustbuilding – both the moral and spiritual qualities needed and practical aspects. Attention was also given to expanding the Creators of Peace program. This is being implemented in Colombia, and three of those taking leadership – Lucia Bohorquez, Cristina Munoz, Luz Stela Camacho – told of its impact in this war-torn country.
Throughout the conference, music and dance featured strongly. Ram Bhagat works with disadvantaged young people in the USA and is an expert drummer. For 90 minutes the conference hall throbbed as he led the conference participants in vigorous drumming. Another evening the participants demonstrated their talents in dance and music. And on the final night, a troupe of young Brazilians gave a dazzling display of Brazilian dance – a wide range from the samba to the dances of Africans kidnapped and brought to Brazil as slaves.