From Iraq to Burma, from Peru to Yemen, from Nicaragua to Nepal, the personal stories of widows, children, workers, soldiers often are lost in the cacophony of war. On August 7, Elliott Bay Book Company hosted a discussion of a new book that gives voice to those directly affected by violent conflict, Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace, by Colette Rausch.
With a foreword by the Dalai Lama, the book collects interviews from 80 ordinary citizens -- a taxi driver, a nun, a machinery worker, a mother -- from conflict zones all over the world Their accounts illuminate the intensely personal experience of war, the uncertain transition to peace, and the aspirations that survive despite it all.
Rausch, the associate vice president for Global Practice and Innovation at USIP, and Khitam Al-Khaghani, who lived and worked in conflict zones and was a part of the team that conducted interviews discussed their experiences in developing the book. A photo exhibit featured images taken during Rausch's travels and her meetings with interviewees.