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 By Suraj Budathoki I am making my first-ever trip to the African nation of Sierra Leone, a nation finally beginning to reconcile after decades of bloody civil war. As someone who survived forceful expulsion from his country at an early age, and where the division is chronic and shows no sign of improving, this journey is crucial. My journey into reconciliation within myself began not as a grand declaration, but as a deeply personal quest for healing—healing for myself, for my community, and ultimately, for my birth homeland of Bhutan. Because I have, early in my life, experienced displacement, a reasonable part of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of a serene environment where peace, dignity, and understanding thrive. I couldn’t find a guideline for my healing journey until I crossed paths with the wisdom of the great peacemakers, Mahatma Gandhi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My physical journey from a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal where I spent almost 20 years to the United States was just part of the struggle; I knew that too well. The invisible wounds—those of trauma, loss, humiliation, and disconnection—could not be healed simply by crossing borders or leaving decades behind. Another type of journey was necessary, a journey that gravitated inward toward self-discovery and outward toward community and collective healing. I’ve learned that it is critically important to engage in a healing process prior to engaging in peacebuilding and reconciliation work, especially for a person that has been strongly impacted by historical trauma or other forms of personal pain. Unsettled trauma does not only cloud judgment but also sustains cycles of pain and hampers the ability to stimulate authentic reconciliation. As we’ve often heard, "Hurt people hurt people." In other words, individuals whose wounds are not yet healed may, often unknowingly, transfer their aggression to others, aggravating dispute instead of finding a solution to them. For that reason, healing is not just a personal necessity but a necessary condition for contributing to the greater collective settlement process. To honestly offer the empathy, patience, and understanding required to close gaps and promote a more peaceful future, individuals must first tend their own wounds. Reading the works of Gandhi, Tutu, and MLK, Jr., I realized how crucial it is to respect and honor those on the other side of the conflict, not as foes, but as equal contenders in a shared game. Each of these peacemakers confronted strongly ingrained injustices but believed in the transformative power of nonviolence, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The ahimsa principle of Mahatma Gandhi—the nonviolence practice—profoundly resonated with me. Gandhi taught that true peace emanates from understanding one’s opponents. Through his belief in satyagraha, or the force of truth, I realized that reconciliation starts from accepting the humanity and dignity of the other side, even when their actions have caused harm. From the Bhutanese point of view, it implies understanding the historical and political intricacies without giving in to bitterness or displeasure. My understanding of collective healing is strongly impacted by Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s role in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “No future without forgiveness,” as he believed, particularly stands out to me. According to Tutu, forgiveness is not just for the one who has been wronged, it is also for the wrongdoer as well. He also argued that it is a requisite step toward freeing both parties from the cycle of pain and violence. The caveat we need to understand, however, is that righteous closer of the conflict is necessary for forgiving wrongdoers. I have given this idea the utmost attention in my work with Peace Initiative Bhutan. I have realized that true reconciliation is about transforming our thoughts about the past, not about wiping them away. The primary aim is to openly confront the injustices we endured and not to forget them and to seek a path that heals rather than encourages division. Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community” sustained my hope for what is possible, even when confronted with deep-rooted conflict. From Dr. King, I learned that justice and peace are attainable realities and not unachievable dreams, as long as we are committed to nonviolent struggle and hold firmly to the belief in human dignity. The idea that peacebuilding must be grounded in empathy, compassion, and a refusal to treat the other side as if they are lesser humans was strengthened by his philosophy of love as a driving force in social change. Today, as I go on with my work in peacebuilding, both in Bhutan and with Bhutanese communities around the world, I am accompanied by the lessons of these exceptional leaders. I am reminded by their teachings that peace is not just an absence of war or violence, but a state of mind, a way of living, and a commitment to healing the wounds of the past. The path to sustainable peace in Bhutan demands that we all come together as equal players, believing in each other’s humanity, while committing to the tough but crucial work of restoring trust. This journey is about learning to see further than the pain of the past and toward the potential for a future that inculcates all of us. And just as Gandhi, Tutu, and MLK Jr. have taught us, this journey needs immense courage, patience, and, above all, love. As I strive to bring healing and reconciliation to my people, the wisdom of these extraordinary leaders keeps me grounded and focused. Their words serve as a constant reminder that peace is not just an aspiration but a tangible possibility—one that requires us to see each other not as adversaries, but as partners in a shared journey. Each of us has a role in building a world that is more just, compassionate, and peaceful. Stay tuned for Part 2. Suraj Budathoki is the co-founder and president of Peace Initiative Bhutan, which is committed to fostering positive change in Bhutan through reconciliation. His organization partners with Global Citizens Circle, collaborating to share resources and knowledge in peacebuilding through sincere dialogue. In addition to his peace work, Suraj is a doctoral student in Transformative Social Change at Saybrook University in California, and he was recently elected to serve in the NH State House of Representatives. Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. Because I have, early in my life, experienced displacement, a reasonable part of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of a serene environment where peace, dignity, and understanding thrive.
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 By Stephen Reno In the wake of the November election, too often have I heard the call “to circle the wagons.” It’s a phrase deep in our American folklore and has come to represent a measure to be safe and secure. But the lessons of these past few weeks are that we need to do just the opposite; rather we need to engage in respectful conversation across difference but based in our common love for our country. Global Citizens Circle, now in its 50th year, has been doing just that, and so offers us all a model for how to do it and what it can lead to. And what it also offers — so desperately needed these days — is intergenerational conversation. As Pope Frances noted, “The elderly with their history are the roots and the young are the flowers and fruits.” Together we grow, recognizing difference, but also know our shared roots. Our country and our world so urgently need this approach. I am grateful for Global Citizens Circle and urge us all to ensure that its mission is an active verb. We hope you’ll register for our next Circle on Monday, December 2, from noon to 1pm. Historian and author Timothy Ryback, whose books and articles offer lessons for democracy, joins us for an important post-election circle event as we join in conversation to consider how to constructively move forward given the polarization of American citizenry. What lesson can we learn from others who’ve navigated similar polarization and found ways to work together for common good? You may register here. Stephen Reno is a retired professor of comparative religion, university administrator, and most recently, the former executive director of Leadership New Hampshire, a 30-year-old organization whose mission is “Building a community of informed and engaged leaders.” He lives in Hampton, New Hampshire, and serves on the advisory board of Global Citizens Circle. Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle. We need to engage in respectful conversation across difference but based in our common love for our country.
At a Boston Circle in May 2019, Jada Hebra led a panel discussion, “Building Movements for Change: Stories of Challenge and Success,” featuring activists Dolores Huerta, Lauren Hogg, and Ramla Sahid. Conversation that evening spoke to societal challenges, division and how each of us can make a difference to create, foster, and impact change.
Hebra, a senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer at Southern New Hampshire University, is adept in her navigation of complex discussion and scenarios, drawing upon the tools of her work and experience to find the humanity in everyone. Yet, in 2016, she too stumbled in the political crevasse that so many found themselves in – but for Hebra, this time it became deeply personal. In her compelling 2023 TEDx Talk, Hebra shares how a work conversation allowed her to open her eyes and find her way forward across a seemingly insurmountable divide – and how we can as well. And in the spirit of Global Citizens Circle, why it matters that we do. If you care about the people in your life who hold a different world view, if you care about this country, then I invite you to the climb – to lay down a ladder and make your way across the crevasse, to dare to try to reach that seemingly unreachable summit ... to have hope. Trust me when I tell you, we can save this relationship. We are so much better together.
Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle.
 By Phoebe de Larrabeiti I. “The power is in your person.” – Dolores Huerta, 2019 GCC discussion leader 1982, Oxfordshire, England It’s the evening. I lean up against my mum’s legs in our kitchen. I should probably be in bed but something is happening. I can feel it. The kitchen is full of people packing food, talking feverishly; nukes, Reagan, Thatcher. I don’t understand everything but I know I can help. Loading food into our battered old Lada (a Russian car bought to piss off our neighbors). These friends, this community of outliers and intellectuals are making meals for the Women of Greenham Common. This was a women’s only peace camp, protesting NATO's decision to site U.S. cruise missiles (guided nuclear missiles) in the U.K. These courageous women had formed a human barricade at the local military airfield base. Often brutally evicted, sometimes imprisoned, they would only return more defiant. My mum and her friends were keeping them fed. I understood then that the U.S. was a powerful nation. Housing their nuclear weapons on U.K. soil crossed a line my community chose to resist. Their resistance seeped under my skin and left its mark. II. “Speak truth to power.” – Kerry Kennedy, 2023 GCC discussion leader March 2003, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport “What do y’all think about the war?” exclaimed the small woman with the big hair guiding us on to the airport shuttle bus. “Where am I?” I thought, already disconcerted from the long haul flight and being held by immigration officers over an anomaly with my student visa. In the past month my world had turned upside down; my mum died suddenly and a trans-Atlantic move destined for New England had brought us instead to Texas. What I could never have anticipated was that our arrival date would coincide exactly with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. and U.K. forces. The Marriott hotel, our first ‘home,' was filled with reserve troops. Images of Blair, Bush and Saddam Hussein played endlessly on the barroom tv. I thought only of the mass mobilization of those against the invasion, the largest protest ever on U.K. soil in London just one month before. In every sense, I felt a million miles from home. There’s nothing like volunteering at a children’s hospital to ground you in a place, however lost you feel. Within a month I was working at the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in downtown Dallas, making friends, navigating cultural differences as best I could. Engaging my colleagues in conversations about politics, particularly the invasion of Iraq, elicited a reaction I had never witnessed before. The war had started now, and it was unpatriotic to question the motives of those in power. I was letting down the troops. Wasn’t it the opposite, I would counter. Doesn’t democracy demand that we hold those in power accountable? Now I felt the fire in my blood. III. “‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.’ Words my grandfather lived by.” – Yolanda Renee King, 2022 GCC discussion leader June 26, 2024. USCIS Offices, Bedford, NH If you had to complete the extensive N-400 application for naturalization you would be asked: Were you EVER a member of, or did you EVER serve in, help, or otherwise participate in, any of the following groups: an insurgent organization (a group that uses weapons and fights against a government)? For the American Democracy section of the civics test you will learn that the “rule of law” states no one is above the law; that our leaders must obey the law. Unless, of course. they start to re-write them. We were living in extraordinary times, the very fabric of what defined a nation and nationality was being undone. Perhaps it was seeing my bright, brilliant, resilient daughter cast her first vote last November that got me thinking. Was it time to become a U.S. citizen? Or maybe something in the air that smelled unsettlingly like authoritarianism propelled me to acknowledge we might not have much time. More than anything it was people, the people I have met here in this beautiful country, a country like most of us – steeped in contradictions. When I cast my vote in November, I might be helping to make history. Here’s hoping. Phoebe de Larrabeiti joined Global Citizens Circle (GCC) as its assistant director in February 2020, with a background in nonprofit management, event organizing and higher education liaison. She works concurrently as a licensed therapist with experience of group facilitation and a particular interest in trauma resolution. Doesn’t democracy demand that we hold those in power accountable? Please note: Each week, we invite members of the greater Global Citizens Circle community to contribute to GCC Voices. The views and opinions expressed in each blog post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Global Citizens Circle.
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