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HENRI: INTRODUCTION TO A PEACEBUILDER

"I was the prime age to become a militia leader. I had energy, morale and muscles...

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If that sounds radical, imagine if your family or tribe were under attack; your first instinct would probably be to fight back too.

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It was because of one man that I chose a different path. My job as a mobile phone salesman meant I listened a little and learnt a lot.  A local peacebuilder called Mussanzi asked me to share this information with him so he could better resolve conflict.
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Mussanzi became my inspiration; and my life as a peacebuilder began. I began to work increasingly closely with Mussanzi, encouraging dialogue between warring tribes. Each day Mussanzi urged me to go further, do more. By now I had dedicated my working life to peacebuilding.

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Then, things went wrong. The nature of his work meant that Mussanzi’s life was constantly at risk. Soon those risks became too great and he had to flee for his life from Bunia. As I’d started to tell the BBC what was happening in this part of my country, my life was also constantly under threat. I was arrested twice by the militia and tortured (they forced sticks between my fingers and fingernails).

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After one such arrest, the UN said they would help me leave, but they wouldn’t make the same promise for my wife and child. Not wanting to be parted, we fled as a family in the middle of the night with my child under one arm.”

I fled to Beni, where with Peace Direct's help, I established the Centre Resolution Conflits."

Henri Bura Ladyi, as told to Peace Direct, February 2008

Now pick up the story here