Alumni Spotlight

Greg Woods '07
Behar Xharra '07

Learning From Laureates

Greg Woods '07 with Emily Higgs of Haverford College.

For young people interested in international peacemaking, it doesn't get better than this.

Greg Woods '07 and Behar Xharra '07 attended the Nobel Peace Summit, December 12-15, 2007, in Rome, Italy. They attended sessions with such past Nobel Peace Prize winners as the Dalai Lama, Mikail Gorbachev and Lech Walsea.

Woods and Xharra were among the eight young people who attended the summit as part of The Next Generation of Peacemakers program, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (A.F.S.C.). The delegation of young people (ages 18-23) were selected based on their commitment to peacemaking. All the delegates were either members of the Religious Society of Friends or otherwise connected to the work of A.F.S.C. Also in attendance at the summit was Earlham Emeritus Professor Paul Lacey, clerk of A.F.S.C.

"It felt quite unreal to be there in front of a group of people who had accomplished so much," says Xharra. "We are not given such opportunities very often."

Behar Xharra '07

Xharra, a native of Kosovo, recently completed a summer project that facilitated dialogue between young people from various ethnic backgrounds in the Balkans region as part of the Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace program, which granted $10,000 each to a hundred college students and recent graduates to pursue peacemaking. Xharra is on the staff of the Kosovo Prime Minister. As Xharra works for a resolution of centuries-old conflicts in his home region, he notes that he found it inspiring to learn from people who had facilitated real change in the world.

Woods, a Jefferson City, Mo. native, agreed that being in the presence of these famous peacemakers was, "pretty amazing." A graduate of Earlham's Peace and Global Studies program, Woods is now Program Coordinator for Michigan Peaceworks. The group, based in Ann Arbor, is involved in education and activism to end the war in Iraq. Woods says he was honored to represent young Quakers at the Nobel Peace Summit.

The summit also recognized the American actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney, both of whom have been active in international peace work. Woods said that learning about their involvement in peacemaking in Africa was another useful part of the summit.

"It was great to be able to find out about the work different groups are doing and to hear about issues — like the situation in Darfur and the malaria epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa — that I don't know that much about," says Woods. "At some point, I would like to work on peace issues outside the United States, and this conference was a great opportunity to learn."

Although the conference mostly consisted of panel discussions in front of large audiences, Woods and Xharra interacted with some of the laureates in attendance.

Woods talked with Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams who shared the Peace Prize in 1977. Maguire and Williams founded The Community of Peace People, a grassroots organization that sought a peaceful resolution to The Troubles in their native Northern Ireland.

"They were ordinary people who were able to bring people together and advocate for change," says Woods.

Xharra was particularly impressed with Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, who won the 2006 Peace Prize. Grameen Bank, which means "Bank of the Villages" in Bangla, offers small loans to impoverished people in Bangladesh so they can support themselves by making items to sell. The bank lends mostly to women and enjoys a pay-back rate of 98 percent.

"What stays with me from his speech is that believing in an idea or a vision is what leads one to change things," reports Xharra.

Both Woods and Xharra believe that attending this summit will inspire them to continue to dedicate themselves to peacemaking.

"Each one of the Nobel Laureates were people like you and me with strong will and determination," says Xharra. "[Attending the summit] made me realize that I could also do something good for myself and my community."