Returning to Afghanistan with our Pillars Program
We're headed back soon to Afghanistan for Phase 2 of our Pillars training program! Tickets are bought, visas in process, and we'll be in-country from February 9-18. The aims of our time in Afghanistan in February are 3-fold:
The actual Pillars program training days with our NGO partner (name withheld for security reasons but trust us—they're awesome!)
Face-to-face personal coaching with key leadership and staff
Consulting with the NGO's Human Resources department for creation of stronger staff wellness policies
Afghan colleagues successfully completing Phase 1 of Petra’s Pillars resilience training, 2019
It's a privilege to work alongside these dedicated Afghan peacebuilders and humanitarians. You may remember that Petra initially traveled to Afghanistan in August 2019 to work with a group of 14 managers from this same organization. We're so pleased they've invited us to return to continue equipping them.
Just as in August 2019, the February 2020 training cohort will come from all across the nation—from Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, and Ghor. Their varied projects touch the lives of many thousands of Afghans throughout these provinces! We are counting the days until we can be together again with these dedicated, passionate leaders very soon.
We're unable to show video footage from our last Pillars 2019 training in August, but you can get a glimpse of our Pillars program by experiencing a previous project in Jordan.
Grateful for Connections with Rotary
En route to the Afghanistan Pillars training, Bianca and Charlotte will be traveling via Cairo, Egypt. Petra Peacebuilders has been given the opportunity to present to a global audience on the topic of trauma and resilience within the context of global peacebuilding.
The event is the Rotary Peace Centers Workshops (February 4-6), followed by the Rotary Peace Conference-Cairo (February 6-7).
Our presentation in Cairo will hopefully be transformative for the Rotarians in attendance, even as we network and maintain our vital connections with like-minded servant leaders within Rotary.
Generous Rotarians and Rotary clubs have partnered financially to make our work at both the Egypt peace conference and the Afghanistan Pillars training project possible.
THANK YOU--you know who you are!
Reintroducing Charlotte
We're delighted to have a second trainer joining Bianca in both Egypt and Afghanistan: Charlotte Cline!
Charlotte joined us in Spain as the cook for our Caravan program in May 2019, where the PAX team from Iraq came to Malaga for a team debriefing retreat. She is a joy to work with, on many levels.
This remarkable woman has over a decade of experience in the fields of intercultural mediation, critical pedagogy, peacebuilding, and trauma resilience, with academic credentials in applied linguistics and intercultural communication. She is also a chef and farm-to-table organizer, certified in plant-based nutrition.
Charlotte grew up in a nonprofit family in Central Asia and has also lived and worked in the Middle East (Turkey and Jordan). Her expertise in trauma and resilience-building work makes her a perfect fit as a Petra trainer.
And, needless to say: Charlotte’s knowledge since childhood of local Central Asian languages also makes her an ENORMOUS asset to our team!