Preface

• Author: Barbara Tint
• Profession: Professor of Conflict Resolution at Portland State University and an international trainer, consultant, and facilitator
• Pages: 18-21

A tree is known by its fruit.

— ZULU PROVERB

PREFACE

The year is 2016. As of this writing, over 4,000 people have died trying to flee the

violent conflicts in Syria and Iraq. People have crossed many miles over land and

sea, at great risk, to find a safe haven in the midst of communal wars and violence.

The influx of refugees into Europe has reached unprecedented levels; over 1.2 mil-

lion individuals are expected to submit applications for asylum this year, with

800,000 of those expected in Germany alone. While immediate needs, including

those of survival, finding a home, and locating family members, will take prece-

dence, when the dust–and lives– have settled, refugee communities will face the

daunting task of living amongst many community members who represent the very

groups they were fleeing. They will not be the first–or likely the last–group of ref-

ugees dealing with this reality: living side by side with former or current enemies in

the diaspora. Surprisingly, little has ever been done to address this significant barrier

to community healing and resettlement.

Well, we did. This book describes a project that took place during a five‐year

period of time working with fractured diaspora communities from Africa in

Portland, Oregon, USA. The Diaspora Dialogue Project (DDP), generously sup-

ported by the Andrus Family Fund (AFF), was a collaboration between the Conflict

Resolution Graduate Program at Portland State University (PSU) and the Immigrant

and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). The project started, as many things

do, with a chance encounter. One day in the spring of 2007, in the halls of my uni-

versity, I ran into John, a Nigerian student in our program, who was doing his intern-

ship at IRCO. He mentioned that there were large numbers of refugees arriving from

the Great Lakes region of Africa and there were concerns about potential issues

related to their history. As Hutu and Tutsi refugees from the genocide in Rwanda

and the ongoing conflicts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),

and other parts of the region, these community members were arriving with great

trauma behind them and great challenges up ahead.