In 2000, when Ali was a graduate student in conflict transformation at 91短视频’s , she encouraged a family friend, now-president , to take courses on building peace at 91短视频.

Mohamud came in 2001, the year Ali completed her master鈥檚 degree, and took three intensive courses in the . Another Somali woman took SPI classes that year, Hawa Moallim. Ali, Mohamud and Moallim returned to their home country eager to apply what they had learned.

Somalia had been devastated by decades of violent conflict and lacked a functioning government. The three Somalis trained at 91短视频 yearned to nurture peace among their fellow Muslims, usually affiliated with clan fiefdoms that squabbled among themselves, sometimes to the point of killing. (Five more Somalis have done graduate study at 91短视频鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding since 2001.)

Ali鈥檚 life since the early 2000s has alternated between highly visible public service and further graduate study. She served in Somalia鈥檚 parliament and in the prime minister鈥檚 cabinet in 2001-02. She left Somalia when radically strident Muslim clerics gained ascendancy in the mid-2000s and headed back to Virginia, where she earned a PhD in c in 2014. Yet each summer, except for 2007, she spent an extended period in Somalia. From 2007 to 2010, she was the senior advisor on reconciliation to the previous president.

Much need for peacebuilding in Somalia

Ali is now back in East Africa 鈥� permanently, she thinks 鈥� ready to put her experience and knowledge into practice where much of her family lives and 鈥渨here the need is so great.鈥� Her return has been welcomed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. She is married to a Somali engineer, who is happy for her to realize her potential and lead as a woman in a male-dominated society. They have a 20-year-old daughter who is a student at .

But before Ali headed home this time, she paid a one-day visit to long-time friends Earl and Pat Hostetter Martin, who live almost adjacent to 91短视频. Pat is a former SPI administrator. The Martins invited a couple of her former 91短视频 professors, and , to reconnect with her over a meal at their home. That day Ali reflected on her path to, through, and beyond 91短视频, often in response to questions from an 91短视频 news writer who was present.

In the late 1990s, Ali recalled, she was the head of an NGO in Somalia, offering humanitarian assistance. 鈥淚 was dealing with emergencies all the time 鈥� everything was destroyed. If a [water] canal was dug, it was destroyed.鈥�

She kept telling herself, 鈥淲e have to deal with the root causes of this 鈥� we can鈥檛 just deal with the symptoms.鈥� But how?

She went to a workshop in South Africa, learned about a peacekeeping studies program in England, and got accepted into it.

Vernon Jantzi impressed her

She deviated from this plan when she heard Jantzi, foundational author of the curriculum of CJP鈥檚 master鈥檚 program, speak at a UNESCO conference in Nairobi. She sought him out and liked what he said so much, she came to 91短视频, becoming one of the first 50 master鈥檚 degree graduates from CJP.

Ali already had a favorable impression of Mennonites from seeing some in action in Somalia as educators and healthcare workers. 鈥淲here I come from, community is very important. I鈥檓 glad I came here first [prior to state-run George Mason University], because here you know everybody. There [at GMU] it is big, and you can easily get lost.鈥�

Ali was raised in a religious family, where her grandfather, father and four brothers knew the Qur’an by heart and were sent to school. Her mother, however, was not given an education. As Ali grew to maturity, her mom decided to keep the tradition and only send her brothers to school. Ali was mainly expected to help cook and clean, key skills she would need when she married and had children. One day, though, Ali recalls that an aunt visited and persuaded Ali鈥檚 mother to let her attend school.

Ali now asserts, 鈥淚n any crisis situation, I think women are more skillful. When men can鈥檛 talk, women talk. They are better at facilitating dialogue.鈥�

Challenged as a woman

Unfortunately, she adds, 鈥淲omen [in the Somali culture] are not very aggressive or supportive of each other in leadership roles. The people against me [when she was in politics] were mostly women.鈥� Ali says she hopes to see the day when a woman is president or prime minister of Somalia.

Ali aspires to start a professional training center for peacebuilders in Mogadishu 鈥� preferably in collaboration with CJP. She dreads, however, trying to attract funding for such an endeavor. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like the politics of donors, especially the money from [foreign] governments, which always has political strings attached.鈥�

To achieve peace in Somalia, Ali feels that great effort must be made 鈥� and patiently sustained 鈥� to 鈥渆ngage everybody and not alienate or exclude any group.鈥�

Is engagement and inclusion possible with Al-Shabaab? This is a group that has played a viciously destabilizing role in Somalia, and indeed the entire region, through its terrorist tactics, including repeated attempts to assassinate President Mohamud. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure the best approach to them,鈥� Ali admitted, 鈥渂ut I know reconciliation is always the best option.鈥�

When , he said he had recently met with Ali in Somalia where they spoke of new national-level responsibilities for her; he conveyed her personal greetings to her alma mater. He also commended CJP鈥檚 , which has 16 Somali-speaking women as graduates or current students: 鈥淵ou educate a woman, you educate a family. You educate a family, you educate a whole nation.鈥�

In a conversation-style talk at tables set for an intimate lunch, Mohamud told 91短视频 leaders: 鈥淚鈥檇 like to officially request your help for Somalia with the tools and techniques you have here, which are very life-saving tools 鈥� not [only] life-saving at the individual level, but life-saving at a nation level.鈥�

He commended CJP鈥檚 , which has 16 Somali-speaking women as graduates or current students: 鈥淵ou educate a woman, you educate a family. You educate a family, you educate a whole nation.鈥�

He added that another important group to nurture as peacebuilders is the youth of his country, who constitute the largest segment of its population and who have spent much of their lives experiencing violence and displacement. 鈥淎ll of their lives [have been] unstable for a long time. They keep running, one place after another.鈥�

The young of Somalia need trauma healing, education, and work opportunities in order not to be vulnerable to recruiting by terrorist organizations, he said.

CJP program director concurred with Mohamud鈥檚 observation, saying: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to create a society where young men are drawn into violence because they have no prospects for a positive life, while young women are taught to be peacemakers.鈥�

91短视频’s commitment to Somali region

Docherty touched on 91短视频鈥檚 鈥渓ong commitment to the Somali region.鈥� She spoke of celebrating the graduation of CJP鈥檚 first cohort of Somali women in the peacebuilding leadership program in December 2013. There she felt 鈥済reat hope,鈥� but also heard the women express 鈥渢he need to connect large-scale work on trauma healing with any initiatives to rebuild the country.鈥�

Mohamud arrived in Harrisonburg in a mid-sized black car sandwiched between two other black vehicles, with accompanying members of the U.S. Secret Service.

鈥淲e are always honored when our former students return to campus, [but] to my knowledge, you are the first alumnus to return with a motorcade,鈥� said CJP executive director in his welcoming remarks, evoking a warm smile from the Somali president.

How this president came to know 91短视频

CJP鈥檚 direct connections to Somalia include alumna Khadija Ossoble Ali, who earned her in 2001. Ali then became a member of Somalia鈥檚 parliament and served in the prime minister鈥檚 cabinet. She left Somalia in the mid-2000s due to political changes and began pursuing a PhD at in Virginia. With her doctorate just completed, she recently met with Mohamud in Somalia where they spoke of new responsibilities for her. (The president conveyed her personal greetings to 91短视频.)

After Ali began studying at CJP in the late 1990s, she recommended 91短视频鈥檚 Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) to Mohamud, who was then an educational leader in Somalia. (He is the founder of what has evolved into in Mogadishu, with 5,000 students.) Mohamud took three of SPI鈥檚 intensive courses in 2001, focusing on mediation, trauma healing, and how to design learner-centered trainings.

鈥淢y brothers and sisters,鈥� he said, recalling his time at SPI, 鈥渢his is another great day in coming back here after more than 10 years away.鈥� Since Mohamud鈥檚 time at SPI, more than a dozen Somali men and women have attended SPI, plus many others who have Somali roots but enroll in SPI from Kenyan, U.S., or other addresses (SPI does not track its participants by ethnicity).

鈥淎fter I left here,鈥� Mohamud recounted, 鈥淚 extensively traveled in Somalia, mediating [between] different communities and clans [which] were having conflicts for different reasons.”

Understandings, patience, helped by SPI teachings

鈥淭he tools and the instruments that I took from here helped me a lot in sitting with the people, having the patience and the endurance to listen to sometimes irrational arguments,鈥� he said.

Fortunately, Mohamud said, his SPI training helped him to realize that the people speaking irrationally and often choosing destructive paths were burdened by psychosocial traumatic baggage as a result of their constant exposure to violent conflict.

Unfortunately, he added, Somalia remains a tinderbox. A destructive act by even one person can undermine years of efforts at peacebuilding and reconciliation and spark widespread attacks of one group against another.

Threatened by terrorists

In this environment 鈥� with Somalia鈥檚 still-weak, distrusted governmental bodies 鈥� the terrorist group Al-Shabaab has played a viciously destabilizing role in Somalia and indeed the entire region, Mohamud said. Members of this group tried to kill Mohamud in a hotel assault four days after he became president on Sept. 10, 2012, and have launched other attacks on him over the last two years, sometimes killing people around him.

On a positive note, Mohamud said Somalia is a 鈥渧ery, very rich country鈥� in terms of possibilities for its people to thrive once stability is achieved. It has millions of hectares of arable land, two strongly flowing rivers, the longest coastline in Africa, and the most livestock per capita. He pointed out that Somalia is situated at one of the 鈥渕ost strategic locations in the world.鈥�

The meeting was held in an area that could be easily secured by the Secret Service and local police. Twenty-six representatives of 91短视频 joined Mohamud and his accompanying group of eight for remarks and lunch at , a relatively secluded meeting area on the back side of Common Good Marketplace, near the southeast corner of 91短视频鈥檚 campus.

Mohamud singled out聽, a rising junior at 91短视频, for special attention at the luncheon, giving her a warm hug as he departed. He praised her deceased mother, , a Somali-Muslim renowned for her peace work in East Africa, for insisting that the “cross-cutting subject” of peacebuilding be woven through the required coursework of all students at Simad University.

Fruits of interfaith work

As one of three who spoke on behalf of 91短视频, Byler explicitly referred to the interfaith nature of 91短视频’s work with Somali-speaking people, who are largely Muslim.

Byler quoted two passages from the Holy Quran that 鈥渨hoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all humankind.鈥� And: 鈥淗ave you seen him who denies the religion? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor.鈥� Byler offered Psalm 82:3 as having a similar message for Jews and Christians: 鈥淕ive justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and destitute.鈥� The Somali president nodded in affirmation as Byler spoke these words.

As a sign of CJP鈥檚 commitment to Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa, Byler said CJP is establishing its first 鈥減ractice and learning hub鈥� to 鈥減artner with and support our [East African] alumni as they engage in this challenging work鈥� of addressing the deeply rooted, systemic problems that feed the cycles of violence.

91短视频 President presented the president of Somalia with several gifts, including training materials in the Somali language used by 91短视频’s program.

鈥淲e wish the best for you as you work to secure the peace, promote stability, and restore prosperity to the people of Somalia,鈥� said in a congratulatory letter dispatched to President Mohamud on Oct. 4.

Challenging the incumbent, Mohamud was the come-from-behind winner in a run-off election that ended Sept. 10, 2012. He was inaugurated on Sept. 16.

鈥淲e are honored that you attended our Summer Peacebuilding Institute in 2001, and hope that some of what you learned during that time will serve you well in the coming months and years as you work with the very difficult issues that Somalia faces,鈥� wrote Swartzendruber.

Mohamud arrived at SPI 2001 as an educator who was interested in how to engage civil society in building his country. He was encouraged to attend SPI by Khadija Ossoble Ali, a native of Somalia who completed her 91短视频 in 2001. Mohamud鈥檚 attendance was facilitated by scholarship funding provided by SPI.

Joining 182 people from 45 countries at SPI 2001, Mohamud took classes in trauma healing, mediation, and adult-centered education techniques.

During the era when Mohamud attended SPI, he was dean of the Somali Institute of Management and Administration Development, which prepared mid-level management and administrative technicians for reconstructing Somalia, according to his official online biography. He was also a researcher for the Center for Research and Dialogue, focusing on post-conflict reconstruction of Somalia.

In 2011, Mohamud founded the Peace and Development Party, the platform from which he launched his bid to be president.

鈥淭he election of Mohamud, a former adviser with an unsullied reputation, appeared to give even the cynical hope,鈥� according to The Toronto Star.

The called Mohamud a 鈥減eace activist and educational campaigner,” who remained in Somalia during more than two decades of civil war, 鈥渦nlike many other Somali intellectuals.鈥�

鈥淗assan Sheikh Mohamud’s dogged determination not to give up on Somalia despite years of conflict, warlordism, piracy and Islamist insurgency has finally paid off,鈥� added the BBC.

Mohamud regularly spoke on a weekly BBC-Somali program, stressing the importance of including civil society groups in the “roadmap to peace.” His election may be one of the outcomes of his determination to follow such a 鈥渞oadmap.鈥�

As a Muslim who disavows the violent agendas of extremists, Mohamud has experienced threats to his life, including an assassination attempt two days after his election that left casualties among African Union soldiers guarding him.

Mohamud鈥檚 election was the final step of a U.N.-backed plan to bring a stable central government to Somalia. The last stable government collapsed in 1991.

鈥�91短视频 continues to be involved in assistance to Somalia,鈥� noted Swartzendruber in his letter to President Mohamud. 鈥淐urrently, four Somali women are enrolled in a graduate certificate program in Peacebuilding Leadership at (along with Somali women from Somaliland and Northeastern Kenya, and women from Liberia, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands).

鈥�91短视频 has also cooperated closely with that is working with trauma and social reconciliation through our curriculum that has already trained more than 800 local trainers who are working with groups in their communities in sixteen districts in Mogadishu,鈥� added Swartzendruber.