Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) announced it would send the Rev. Nicole Janelle to Haiti to deliver nonviolence literature for the Diocese of Haiti Tutu Center. EPF's gift includes copies of De la Violence a la Plenitude, a French-language translation of the nonviolence training curriculum From Violence to Wholeness. Janelle's trip, scheduled for November 12-14, builds on EPF's August 2008 nonviolence training sessions in Haiti.

"EPF's August training in Haiti helped nurture an alternative to violence and instability. We hope the Rev. Janelle's trip is a sign to our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ of our commitment to continued support for their work for a nonviolent future," EPF Executive Director Jackie Lynn said.

According to the CIA World Factbook, "Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history...[A]bout 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti..." The country is a "Caribbean transshipment point for cocaine en route to the U.S. and Europe," plagued by "substantial bulk cash smuggling activity." Colombian narcotics traders and widespread corruption add to an already violent atmosphere. Haiti is also "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 [percent] of the population living under the poverty line and 54 [percent] in abject poverty."

In August, Diocese of Haiti Bishop Jean Zache Duracin invited EPF to begin nonviolence training. Working with the Rev. Frantz Cole, Director of Development for the diocese, EPF representatives, including Janelle and EPF board member Will Wauters, held a three-day nonviolence training for 125 Haitian leaders.

According to the Haiti Connection website (http://www.haitiepiscopalconnection.org/), the theme of the November Haiti Connection Conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is "C'est Ensemble," or "Together, We Can." In addition to the materials for the Haiti Tutu Center, Janelle will also present copies of De la Violence a la Plenitude to each person who participated in the August training.

Janelle serves as Vicar of St. Michael's and All Angels Church and Campus minister at the University of California, Santa Barbara. You can learn more about her and the August training at her blog, http://saintmikesucsb.vox.com/.

EPF is a national membership organization connecting all who seek a deliberate response to injustice and violence and want to pray, study and take action for justice and peace in our communities, our church, and the world. To learn more about EPF's work in Haiti, to register for email updates or to donate online, visit http://www.epfnational.org.