I’ve worked alongside many of my International Ministries colleagues who serve among the tribal hill peoples of northern Thailand, especially the Lahus, Akhas, and Karens. I have done conflict transformation training among ethnic refugees from Myanmar who live in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. I’ve also facilitated trainings hosted by my IM colleagues who serve among women who have been trafficked in exploitative labor or are at high risk of such exploitation, frequently involving prostitution. These ministries are dealing with young women who have been severely traumatized and have many emotional difficulties that spark conflicts within the ministry settings. I helped equip the staff for effective ways of handling such situations.
For BBC’s country background information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1237845.stm
About Me
- Daniel Buttry
- I am the Global Consultant for Peace and Justice with International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches. That means that I work around the world, usually on short term peace projects. My area of specialty is conflict transformation. Simply put, conflict transformation means turning conflict from negative, destructive experiences into positive, constructive experiences… in which problems are solved, unjust relationships are structured in more just ways, violence is replaced by nonviolent means of dealing with disagreements, torn relationships are reconciled, decisions become more participatory and traumatized people are supported for healing. About 70% of my work involves training people in nonviolent conflict transformation. I occasionally am involved in mediation. I write a lot and have published a number of books on various peacemaking topics.