On May 1, 2013, Board member Giuseppe Leone interviewed Julie Mitchell, Executive Director of the Ku’ikahi Mediation Center in Hilo, Hawaii about the programs at her center. Started as a program of the YMCA on Hawai’i Island, the KMC became an independent non-profit organization. They provide affordable mediation services with professionally trained mediators, facilitation services for a variety of groups, as well as trainings and workshops to the communities of East Hawai’i. Watch the 13-minute interview below.
Author: Lisa Nakao
Darkness and desperation seems to pervade much of the world today, especially in the Middle Eastern region. People struggle to establish some stability for themselves. Alongside bombings, poverty, and injustice, life must continue – filled with mundane errands, personal journeys of fulfillment, and love. Religious wars and unjust policies crash against talks at a local café and shopping trips. The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti brings this juxtaposition to the forefront by following the life of one Palestinian boy, Ichmad Hamid, with a natural talent for math. Ichmad grows up in a rural town in Israel. His family is dispossessed of their house and they are forced to live, at first, in a much smaller assigned house and then, after another eviction, in a tent as the permit process is delayed. Ichmad’s father is wrongly imprisoned for 14 years under the accusation of terrorist collaboration. Ichmad tries to support his family by getting a job in hard labour with his younger brother. He wins the opportunity to attend university focusing on higher level mathematics and computer chips. He suffers recriminations from his family, though he sends them part of his stipend, and discrimination from his peers. He moves to America as a prominent math scholar while remaining connected with his family and life in Israel. The story starts in 1955 and continues to 2009, tracking the development of violence, intervention, and resistance in the Israel-Palestine conflict through Ichmad’s eyes. The tone of the book is established from the very first page. Ichmad is looking for his precocious 2-year-old little sister, Amal (meaning hope), missing from her crib. He finds her running towards an open field to play. As he runs to get her, his mother grabs him and screams for her daughter to stop. But, Amal is distracted by a butterfly and continues…
On April 26, 2013 the Association for Conflict Resolution Hawaii Chapter and the HSBA Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section presented the second in a series of skill-building workshops focusing on the techniques and practices for bringing complex and multi-party disputes to successful resolution. Over 40 participants heard from a distinguished panel of conflict resolution professionals who shared their invaluable practice tips and techniques for successful closing strategies through hypothetical case scenarios and discussion. The panelists included : Kale Feldman, Esq., Chee Markham & Feldman, Mediator and Arbitrator Peter Adler, Ph.D, Accord 3.0, Strategic Public Policy Consultants Ken Kawamoto, Vice President & Director of Negotiation Services Hawaii Employers Council Margaret L. Shaw, Esq., JAMS and CPR Mediator and Arbitrator (via Skype from New York) Moderator Lou Chang, Mediator and Arbitrator
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CEEDS Workshop a Success!
ACR Hawaii Board member Dr. Kerrie Urosevich and Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng presented a Ceeds of Peace workshop with the Montessori Community School on February 10, 2013. The workshop brought together approximately 90 teachers, families and community members to gain skills in supporting children and youth to be peacebuilding leaders in their communities. Peacebuilders possess the critical “c”s of peacebuilding such as, complex problem solving, critical thinking, compassion, creativity, collaborative leadership and courage. Participants learned how to model the Ceeds and plant the Ceeds to ultimately achieve safe and thriving homes, schools and communities. Comments from participants: “When is the next one?! We need more of these in our community.” “Every adult that spends time with a child needs these CEEDS!” Additional workshops will be offered once a month, from August to November 2013 for families, teachers and community members working with children. Teachers will receive professional development credits for attending two of the four workshops. Ceeds of Peace has been developed by Dr. Kerrie Urosevich and Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, in partnership with the University of Hawai‘i College of Education, Family Hui, the Association for Conflict Resolution Hawai‘i Chapter, and the Hawai‘i State Department of Education.
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Tribute to Nicholas DeWitt, Esq.
Nick was a friend of ACR-Hawaii and a valued member of our Board since 2008, having served as treasurer in 2009 and 2010. Chuck Hurd, friend and fellow board member recalls meeting Nick at a social event a few years ago and “immediately recognized him as a kindred soul, a brother lawyer, who had wanted to grow beyond the boundaries of the profession and who sought to keep growing and evolving into a better human being. He worked as an arbitrator, expert witness and mediator to try and bring a fair and just result to one case at a time. Nick’s legacy is that he left an imprint on many people to believe that it is possible and even a personal calling to do the fair and just thing in this world.” Nick was a fine man and human being who touched the lives of everyone he met and he will be greatly missed.