The Face of Change in Somalia?

This week, hundreds of Somalis -- mostly women and children -- marched through the streets of Mogadishu protesting against Al-Shabaab militants. The protesters, along with traditional warriors wearing white clothes and armed with spears and wooden shields, chanted slogans denouncing the al Qaeda-inspired group. It was only the second public national demonstration against Al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia. It came a few days after the militant group destroyed tombs of revered Sufi clerics.

“People were really disturbed by the move of Al-Shabaab to destroy the tombs of the revered sheikhs of Ahlu Sunna,” said one civilian spokesperson. Observers noted that the protesters shouted slogans of support for the U.N.-backed government.

“We call for a holy war against them,” said Sheikh Abdulkadir Somow, from the Sufi Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama group, which recently signed a deal with the government in neighboring Ethiopia. Some of the demonstrators carried posters with slogans such as “Down and defeat to Al-Shabaab,” observers said. They also carried slogans to support the transitional government such as “Support Peace and Government.”

As one observer commented, “perhaps real change in Somalia will come from these protesters -- women and children who are determined to make a difference in this world.”

A Lasting Peace?

The Movement for Liberation and Justice, an umbrella group comprised of 10 rebel groups fighting against the Sudanese government, has signed a ceasefire agreement -- according to Sudan's state-run media. The agreement was signed last week in Doha, Qatar, by Sudanese official Ghazi Salahuddin and Al-Tigani Sessi of the Movement for Liberation and Justice. Qatar has been mediating talks between the two sides in the Darfur conflict.

In the past seven years, more than 300,000 people have been killed through direct combat, disease or malnutrition, according to the United Nations. An additional 2.7 million people fled their homes because of fighting among rebels, government forces and allied militias. According to United Nations’ spokespersons as well Western government representatives and numerous human rights orgainzations, the Sudanese government launched a brutal counter-insurgency campaign, aided by government-backed Arab militias that went from village to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents.

Last year, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court with genocide in connection with the government's campaign of violence in Darfur.

Let’s pray that peace is truly at hand.

A new Somalia?

“Things can and are changing in Somalia.” At least that’s what was said this week in response to an historic agreement signed between a rebel group and the country's government. The peace agreement between the government and the Ahlu Sunnah group was signed Monday night at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to published news reports.

“The agreement with Ahlu Sunnah is a historic success for the Somali people and it is a further positive step for the full return of Somalia's nationhood," President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said. Ahlu Sunnah is a large, moderate Sunni-based religious movement influenced by Sufi Islam that has been fighting extremists from such militant groups as Al-Shabaab for about a year.

“We preach peace and harmony among all nations and races of the world, but recently new and violent Islamist groups have surfaced in our country,” said Ahlu Sunnah's spiritual leader, Sheikh Mohamud Sheikh Hassan. “We have united with the Somali government and fight against these violent groups together and this is not a fight or a struggle against people, it is against ideology.”

Somalia has not had a stable government for nearly 20 years. As a result of its civil war, hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions more have been displaced.

Indeed it is time for change.

The Crisis in Nigeria

With each passing week, it seems that the crisis in Nigeria continues to escalate. Last weekend, an estimated 400+ people were killed after members of a machete-wielding Muslim group attacked a mostly Christian town south of the city of Jos. Some authorities believe the weekend slaughter was a revenge attack for the killing of around 150 members of the Hausa Muslim community by Christian mobs in Kuru Karama, south of Jos, in January 2010.

As tensions escalate, people are aware that what can be considered small skirmishes could erupt into a major conflict.

In September 2001, simmering tension erupted into violence leading to the deaths of 1,000 Christians and Muslims after what seemed to be a relatively minor incident. In February 2004, allegations of cattle theft led to the murder of around 700 Muslims and Christians in the city of Yelwa. Again in November 2008, several hundred more people of both religions were killed after disputed local elections in Jos. Aside from religious tensions, the ethnic groups are fighting for land, resources, job and opportunities in a region stricken by poverty. Authorities say that economic difficulties are exacerbating past tensions.

The Nigerian government has issued a red alert for the region amid fears of revenge attacks and calls for justice by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch. Meanwhile, the crisis continues.

A Light for the World

“A living example of faith put into action,” is how many describe Immaculee Ilibagiza -- a young woman whose life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Immaculee and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house. She entered the bathroom as a vibrant, 115-pound university student with a loving family. When she emerged, she weighed just 65 pounds and discovered most of her family had been brutally murdered.

Overcome with grief and hatred, she began praying the rosary as a way of drowning out the negativity that was building up inside her. Now whenever she talks about her ordeal at workshops or lectures, she explains that she found solace and peace in prayer ... and began to pray from the time she opened her eyes in the morning to the time she closed her eyes at night. She even found it possible, and in fact imperative, to forgive her tormentors and her family's murderers.

Today Immaculée is regarded as one of world's leading speakers on peace, faith, and forgiveness. Indeed, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

For more information on Immaculee’s amazing story, go to www.immaculee.com.