Stories

Peace Counts sends reporters and photographers to areas that are or have been affected by conflict. They report on successful peacemakers and their methods and focus on possible solutions of violent conflicts. Up to now our teams have worked in more than 50 countries from A like Afghanistan to Z like Zimbabwe. Their inspiring stories are published in newspapers, quality magazines, radio, television and online. And in the book „Die Friedensmacher“ (The Peacebuilders; in German only). The project itself was awarded the Innovation Prize, one story from Libya with the journalism award „Andere Zeiten“.

Nigeria: “Peace is Divine”

James Wuye and Muhammad Ashafa once fought in opposing militias. Now they help mediate the conflicts that have repeatedly flared between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria. Successfully. Their strongest arguments are the Koran, the Bible – and their own biographies. By Michael Gleich

Killing for Medals

The northeast part of India, the largest democracy on earth, has proven to be a military regime. Hundreds of civilians are killed, and a special law guarantees the soldiers immunity. A lawyer and a woman who has eaten nothing for 14 years are fighting this. The two might win. By Michael Gleich

God’s Rapid Response Team

In the unsettled northeast of India, numerous rebel groups are fighting the army for political autonomy and financial sinecure. The only power respected by all sides is the Christian churches. In crisis situations, the Catholic archbishop Thomas Menamparampil brings an interdenominational peace team and rebels to the negotiation table. By Michael Gleich

Libya: Flashbacks in Tripoli

A Tripoli trauma centre tries to heal emotionally wounded children and youth caused by war. By Michael Gleich

Rwanda: Reconciliation

Long after the genocide of 1994, Rwanda is still a wounded, divided nation. AMI, a small organization located in the south of the country, is attempting something that might seem unthinkable: to reconcile murderers and the families of people they killed. By Markus Wanzeck

Kenya: Shoot to score, not to kill

The Kenyan attorney Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan works to bring together members of northern Kenya’s warring tribes. Her methods so far have included organising football tournaments and setting up a council of women to discuss men’s violence. By Susanne Stiefel

Colombia: Mateo chooses Life

Mateo, the music group Eskalones and the „Elite de Hip-Hop“ use rhymes, dance, and graffiti art to resist the gang culture of Comuna 13, a notorious slum in Medellín, Colombia‘s secondlargest city. Their work is a courageous open-ended experiment. By Tilman Wörtz

Thailand: Gothoms’s March

A peace march of over one thousand kilometres, from Bangkok to Thailand’s southernmost province of Pattani: That was the idea that took shape in the mind of Gothom Arya, director of Bangkok’s Research Center for Peace Building. His hope was to draw attention to one of the world’s forgotten conflicts. By Uschi Entenmann

Egypt: New Life for old Tradition

Tarek Ramadan practices law in Egypt. His current specialty is breathing life into old traditions: He recruits and trains “Muhakimin,” arbitrators who manage conflicts between neighboring families. That was the traditional role of the judge in Islam. By Patrick Hemminger

Brazil: Long live the favela!

Nowhere do so many people die of gunshot wounds as in Brazil – 40,000 in 2004 alone. Just inland of Rio’s perfect beaches, a war is raging. In the neighborhood of Cantagolo, once an embattled mafia stronghold, the organization “Vivario” has succeeded in stopping the killing. By Tilman Wörtz

Neve Shalom: School for Peace

In the jewish-arabic village Neve Shalom / Wahat al Salam people try to achieve the apparently impossible: living together in peace and sharing the power. So they founded their „School of Peace“, where young Jews and Palestinians learn how to talk to each other in a critical and fair manner. By Tilman Wörtz

Peace Boat – Freedom on Sea

Japanese activists founded a peace university that constantly circles the globe. By Michael Gleich

Macedonia: Elena mediates

Intercultural dialogue requires translators – people at home in more than one world. Elena Gulmadova is from the central Asian republic of Tajikistan. She is a diplomat and a gynecologist. Her father worships Allah, her mother Jesus. She mediates in Macedonia between warring Muslims and Christians. By Michael Gleich

Sri Lanka: Reconstruction

A bloody civil war has destroyed northern Sri Lanka, where a Tamil with German citizenship is reinventing himself for the second time. Because peace needs economic progress to survive, he is leading an exemplary reconstruction effort. By Michael Gleich

Israel: Between Front Lines

The Benedictine Abbey of Hagia Maria Sion stands on the line dividing East from West Jerusalem. It is home to the prayers and labors of the Middle East’s smallest peace movement. By Michael Gleich

Jordan: Rivulet in the Lord’s Garden

Lot settled in the Jordan valley, so the Old Testament says, because it was “well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord.” Today the lower Jordan River is an open sewer. Environmentalists are hoping to change that with a unique cooperative project. By Bernd Hauser

Colombia: Deal with the Devil

For forty years, civil war has ravaged Colombia. A Catholic priest, Padre Giovani Presiga, aids the victims with a combination of faith, courage, and ingenuity. By Uschi Entenmann

Mali: Return of Desert Knights

By cultivating rice plants the German couple Henner and Barbara Papendieck created hope for the people in the Northern part of Mali, a region largely destroyed by civil war. By Uschi Entenmann

Northern Ireland: The Cold Peace

On 10th of April 1998, the combatants in Northern Ireland signed the Good Friday agreement. Two former terrorists stayed on the street, continuing the struggle – as social workers. They try to convince young people to stay out of paramilitary groups. The task is challenging. The hatred between Catholics and Protestants has not faded. By Michael Gleich

Philippines: Peace Zones

Many invisible fronts drift through the Philippine isle of Mindanao. For not to get into the firelines, many villages state themselves as neutral „Peace Zones“ where real shelter is only granted by independent observers. So Father Bert Layson mobilizes a network of farmers, clerics and politicians – a well working watch of armistice. By Tilman Wörtz

South Africa: Jailhouse Rock

The tough guys wait. They sit in silence on a long wooden bench, two dozen thieves and murderers in prison in Cape Town, South Africa. Their heads are shaved. Their coveralls are fire-engine red. Across each man’s chest is emblazoned the word “Prisoner,” along with a name: Ebrahim, Eric, Moses. By Uschi Entenmann