Leadership Institute
African Great Lakes Initiative
Ggaba National Seminary, Kampala, Uganda
January 15-21, 2012
The Great Lakes Initiative Leadership Institute is designed for restless Christian leaders in the African Great Lakes who are passionate about peace and reconciliation.
Modeled after the Duke Summer Institute, the five-day program offers participants an opportunity to interact with and learn from some of the most remarkable and dynamic Christian leaders in East Africa, including Wilfred Mlay, Celestin Musekura, Bishop Paride Taban, Maggy Barankitse, Angelina Atyam, Archbishop John Baptist Odama, Bishop Zac Niringiye, David Kasali, Sr Rosemary Nyirumbe, and Katho Bungishabaku.
All participants learn together each morning in a common journey led by these distinguished leaders. There are afternoon seminars where participants engage a specific theme intensively with others who have similar expertise. “Civil Society, Political Engagement, and Advocacy,” “Counseling and the Healing of Memory,” and “Community Mobilization and Grassroots Peace-building” are just a few examples of the afternoon seminars held in 2011. At the center of the Leadership Institute is a common pilgrimage to a local community of peace and hope.
The Center for Reconciliation, in partnership with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), World Vision International (WVI), and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM), held the first Great Lakes Initiative Leadership Institute on January 16-22, 2011, at Ggaba National Seminary in Kampala, Uganda. Read more about the Institute »
Leadership Institute 2012 full details »
Why a Leadership Institute?
Since 2006, the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI) has organized yearly gatherings in East Africa to bring together a dynamic mix of practitioners and scholars to share stories and learn practices of reconciliation that are biblically grounded, contextual, and practical for the Great Lakes region. The first two gatherings were held in Kampala, Uganda, and the second two were held in Bujumbura, Burundi. At the fourth gathering, in Bujumbura, leaders expressed the need for more opportunities for formation and learning of the skills, methods, and stories that sustain the vision and practice of reconciliation.
To respond to this need, we invited representatives from the GLI’s core partners and other key leaders from the Great Lakes Region to the Duke Summer Institute (May 31-June 6, 2010) for a five-day consultation. What came out of this consultation was not only an affirmation of the need for more learning and formation opportunities but an emerging vision for the next chapter of the GLI.
The Duke consultation was followed up with a meeting at Entebbe, Uganda. What emerged from these two consultations was a vision for a new chapter of the Great Lakes Initiative with an annual Leadership Institute as the core program.