Building Trust after Civil War in Burundi

This is the best adult learning experience I have had in the past five years. I wanted to learn new skills—I did!

The thing that always feels like magic to me—and I’ve used it in several meetings that I’ve had since—is how the practitioners start by setting out pacts or agreements.

Essential Partners is a world treasure, especially for having conversations on oppositional topics, which is very challenging.

I notice that my classmates take much more care when speaking about people who practice other religions. They make fewer assumptions, and they’re more careful with their words to make sure to avoid unintentional connotations.

I learned that I can build relationships, that I can be connected to anybody who I want to be connected to, no matter how difficult it is

What is special about Essential Partners' approach is that it promotes authenticity, reduces defensiveness, increases curiosity, and boosts connectedness.

I am amazed at what came out—the way people shared their stories. This is not like a role-play; it really touched me.

Essential Partners does the best work in the field of dialogue and communication.

[Essential Partners’] technique is used to explore contentious or divisive issues. So looking at renewable energy we thought this was an ideal opportunity to explore all the complexities of that issue. I found it a really useful method, and although this is the first time we’ve used it I am sure we’ll be using it again.

I realized that by using the “dialogue” approach, people could talk of what is deep in their heart, especially things that have harmed them.

I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment when the Essential Partners training ended; that I'd done something important for my community and something important for me.

I’ve gained not only confidence but tools. The Essential Partners training was worth every penny.

This is a new idea, so many people speaking from their hearts. People can come together...if people can understand, they can change their hearts; then this can bring about more change.

As a former rebel, I really believe that if we had known about dialogue, perhaps we would not have had a civil war.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Laura Chasin and her collaborators at Essential Partners… From them, we have learned about the transformative power of telling one’s story and speaking to the heart of the matter.

Before, I thought all dialogue that does not culminate in solution was considered equivalent to failure. Now I see that dialogue is a stage complete in itself.

This has been quite different from other discussions in Liberia about peace. While many processes have been about how to reform ex-combatants, this was about how we may hold our own views but live together peacefully.

Together, we married our ideas to create a dialogue model that took into consideration our young people’s particular needs, and our culture.

What surprised me was how much you could transform a relationship during a three-hour conversation.

Authentic conversations will lead people to reflect on their own thinking and transform their perspectives to include that of others.

This is a different tool for engagement. It’s not about you, it’s about others. It involves the art of listening and sincerely talking from the heart

Through this training, we will have more people in the stream of work that we do and become better equipped with the know-how, skills and techniques. But most important, together we will sow a seed that will germinate and become a source of the antidote to terrorism, fanaticism, bigotry and extremism.

I did not anticipate having as many concrete takeaways as I do. I feel there is an immense practical application.