INTERCHANGE ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13
Highlights of Our Work over the Fiscal Year
(Please read below or download the PDF version by clicking here.)
InterChange’s 2012-2013 fiscal year saw a great deal of activity in solidarity across our many regions. The following present some of the highlights of the year:
2012 AGM
‘Remembering Partition: Dialogue for Healing and Change’ was hosted by InterChange GTA on September 23, 2012 following our Annual General Meeting. The event was held to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the partition of India and Pakistan, and to celebrate the International Day of Peace 2012. “Remembering Partition” involved a dialogue focused on shared understanding, healing and change. It offered a chance for people to tell their stories, and to share experiences and understanding.
LOCAL CENTRE ACTIVITIES
Uganda
InterChange Uganda celebrated the International Day of Tolerance and Peace on Friday November 16th, 2012. This year’s celebrations were held in the St. Anne’s Nama sub-county in the Mukono district. Many community activities were put in place to mark the day including a marathon, music, dance, drama and football.
Throughout the year the InterChange Uganda local centre continued to advance its “Play Soccer, Make Peace” programme, which works to bridge the differences between cultures and religions and encourage individuals to be united by the common good. Matches are regularly played on religious holidays (such as Easter, Christmas and Eid) and on other internationally recognized days such as the UN International Day for Tolerance. The Uganda local centre continued to offer computer training and use, internet access, counseling services, and community peacebuilding efforts in its centre in Lutengo throughout the year.
Canada (GTA)
InterChange GTA continued to offer courses through its Building a Culture of Peace project, which is working to connect peacebuilding practitioners with those who want to learn and practice these approaches. One of the project’s most popular courses has been the “Everyone Can Be a Peacebuilder” introduction to peacebuilding, which uses a picnic format to engage participants. The session introduces participants to a number of peacebuilding concepts and invites people to think about what they will bring to the picnic – another way of asking how participants will share their knowledge, skills and passion with the others during the training experience. 
A major success of the program was the Community Based Peacebuilding workshop series held at Centennial College. The unique and customized 4-module workshop, which took place from April 2012 – June 2012, involved a diverse group of participants including Centennial College administrators, faculty and support staff. The workshops introduced participants to core principles and concepts of peace building, and gave them the opportunity to explore effective and meaningful approaches for dealing with and transforming conflict in their lives and work.
InterChange GTA also continued its Peace Begins at Home programme in schools in the GTA.
Croatia (Vukovar)
Work in Vukovar, Croatia, continued to move forward in line with InterChange’s message that “Everyone Can Be a Peacebuilder”. The Coalition for Work with Psychotrauma and Peace (CWWPP) has been actively training lay people to provide counseling through a program known as the Course for Workers in Areas of Regeneration (CWIAR). This course includes modules on communication, psychology and trauma, civil society, non-violent conflict resolution, and human rights. It is adapted to each specific group and lasts for approximately 120 hours. Eventually, the hope is to put the course into interactive online format so that people can deal with these issues within their own communities.
2012/13 INTERCHANGE BOARD
In closing, we would like to thank all of the InterChange Board members who guided InterChange in its work over the past year:
- Anne Goodman (President) – Toronto, Canada
- Anthea Darychuk – Toronto, Canada
- Nadia Fazal – Toronto, Canada
- Tor Iorapuu – Jos, Nigeria
- Wilson Omalenge Ndenyele – Mombasa, Kenya
- Pamela Snell – Toronto, Canada
- Charles Tauber – Vukovar, Croatia
- Carolyn Webb (Secretary) – Ottawa, Canada
- Umar Weswala – Kampala, Uganda
- Michael Wheeler (Treasurer) – Toronto, Canada
- Violet Yimbo – Kisumu, Kenya
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