First Annual MBB Congress

St. Malo Catholic Retreat, Conference & Spiritual Center, Allenspark, Colorado, USA

By Barbora Batokova

	Slideshows
	Attendees
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	Program
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Over 120 people gathered at the to the St. Malo Catholic Retreat, Conference & Spiritual Center in Allenspark, Colo., USA from Feb. 15 - Feb. 18, 2007 to attend the founding Mediators Beyond Borders Congress and the 3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Retreat. Out of the 120, over 60 were MBB Founding Members, constituting close to a third of the total MBB membership. Members traveled as far as from Scotland, Germany, The Netherlands and Canada. The event wouldn't have been possible without the great organizational skills of MBB Board Director Nan Waller Burnett and the many volunteers who helped before and during the retreat.

"I want to thank all the members who came to Colorado and gave so freely of their time, ideas, and expertise. I especially want to thank Board Member Nan Waller Burnett, who put on a genuinely life-altering Congress," MBB President Ken Cloke said.

Many members agreed that the main reason to attend the Congress was to learn about MBB activities and members. "I was hoping to get a sense of the direction and culture of the MBB members and Board as well as to see what role I could play in supporting the organization and its mission," said Wendy Wood, who helped with developing grant proposal protocols.

MBB President Ken Cloke and Secreatry-Treasurer Robert A. Creo called the turn-out impressive. "Ken opened the Congress with his presentation called Mediators as Global Citizens: How Mediators Can Save the Planet. In the afternoon, MBB members met for the very first session, which allowed everyone to introduce themselves. According to Robert A. Creo, the 2-hour session was very beneficial, because it allowed the Board to get familiar with the members and their capabilities.

"I was immeasurably enriched and motivated by the MBB Congress at St. Malo," Founding Member Richard Lutringer said.

On Feb. 16, Bob, along with Board Director Prabha Sankaranarayan and Founding Member Harriett Nettles, presented The Liberian Initiative. Bob gave extensive historical background on the Liberian conflict, while Prabha and Harriett talked about their experiences in Accra and at the Buduburam Settlement in Ghana, West Africa. MBB has so far travelled to Ghana and Liberia three times to assess the situation, explore collaboration opportunities and provide basic mediation training. MBB is also closely collaborating with the Child Soldier Reintegration Fund (CSRF) headed by MBB Student Member Penelope Bissett. The fourth MBB assessment and training trip is already underway. Bob is meeting with government officials, the United Nations, ABA and other NGOs  in Monrovia, Liberia, while Founding Member Alan Gross is conducting mediation training at the Buduburam Settlement, Ghana. Founding Member Anna Orrnert from the United Kingdom will join Bob in Monrovia.

The morning brainstorming session was faciliated by Board Member Anna Spain. The session presented the proposed initiatives that MBB might pursue and allowed members to offer ideas, recommendations, and protocols for present and future initiatives. Members and Board Directors broke out into sessions to discuss each initiative.

In the afternoon, Board Member Rachel Wohl facilitated a session What Needs to Be Done, in which members broke into groups to discuss structural and procedural issues such as student chapters, fundraising, training and research, project development and protocols, communications and technology, public relations, and membership and recruitment. Each group came up with many valuable recommendations.

The Content Committee session turned into a discussion regarding MBB organizational structure, member involvement, initiative/project selection process and fundraising. The Board also had the opportunity to hear every member's concerns through the group facilitation by Meryl Marschall-Daniels. "[I enjoyed] the conversations and the process for receiving the member input," Wendy Wood said. The Board met immediately after the session to address the concerns. Their recommendations will be available very soon.In the evening, John Paul Lederach, after addressing MBB in the afternoon, along with Herm Weaver presented The Poetry of Conflict Peacebuilding Stories and Songs from the Road.

On Feb. 17, Co-Founder Erica Ariel Fox started the day with her plenary Beyond Yes: Negotiation Insight from the Inside Out. For the rest of the morning, members broke into groups to attend sessions by MBB Board of Directors and Members. In the afternoon, members were able to see the documentary about a 17-year suicide bomber, her 17-year old vicitim and the reconciliation of their mothers called To Die in Jerusalem. In the evening, MBB-ers joined the Rocky Mountain Retreaters for the Tibetan Gong Vibrational Healing.

On Feb. 18, Marilyn McKnight, President of Association of Conflict Resolution (ACR), addressed MBB and offered collaboration with the ACR International Section. During the closing ceremony at lunch, all attendees were awarded membership certificates and certificates of attendance.

Throughout the Congress, Fiona Nagle offered her expertise regarding environmental issues and presented a draft of an environmental protocol that should guide every MBB initiative.

"I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet everyone. It was nice to be able to put a face with the name of another Founding Member. I was interested in learning more about the MBB and what we would be doing as an organization. I found it wonderful that there were people with similar interest who wanted to come together for a common cause," Founding Member Patty Lampman said.

"I especially appreciated the blending of the pragmatic work of the MBB sessions and the ACR Spirituality Retreat offerings, exemplifying the vital need for all of us to pay attention to and connect with our inner life while we take on the heavy lifting of conflict in the world around us. I only wish I could have bi-located so I could have attended simultaneous workshops," said Founding Member Susan Mullins. Wendy Wood agreed by saying that she enjoyed having been associated with the ACR Spirituality section. "I hope that the MBB work will reflect that energy as well," she said.

Many MBB Founding Members also agreed that the most valuable aspects of the Congress were networking and collaboration. "The synergy that come from having the group come together to work towards common goals and objectives [was the most valuable]," Patty Lampman said. Founding Member Ron Supancic agreed and said that the most valuable aspect was "creating a conspiracy for world peace."

"It was an extraordinary, immensely useful experience. The most important achievements of our four days together, were the coalescing of an active, enthusiastic, engaged membership, and an immense number of practical proposals, ideas, and suggestions for how we can work together to make MBB more successful," MBB President Ken Cloke said.