Faces of Courage

The faces of courage take many aspects. Join these three inspirational human beings and many others at the Alliance for a New Humanity's Human Forum December 7 to 9, 2006 at the Westin Rio Mar in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Rigoberta Menchú was born into poverty in a small Guatemalan village. She worked with her parents, tending corn and beans on their small plot. Rigoberta's father, Vicente, was one of the first in their region to seek justice and a better life for the Mayan people. He began a struggle to improve the conditions of the peasant workers and was burned to death during a protest. Her mother was killed a few weeks later by the government. Rather than destroying her, these atrocities strengthened Rigoberta Menchu's resolve to win freedom for her people. Rigoberta Menchú's work focuses on the promotion of the defense of human rights, peace and Indigenous Peoples' rights. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, becoming the first Indigenous and the youngest person ever to receive this distinction.

Mae Chee Sansanee Sthirasuta, a Buddhist nun, is the founder and Director of Sathira-Dhammasathan Center, in Bangkok. The Center, under Mae Chee Sansanee's leadership, believes that Dhamma is holy, when it can be applied to the normal way of living. Her remarkable teachings and humanitarian efforts to help break the cycle of violence in communities soon caught the attention of the Thai Government, which has since appointed her to several important and influential positions. In all her work, Mae Chee Sansanee uses Dhamma to bring peace, harmony, respect and an open heart, without discrimination or bias.

Currently, she is Co-Chair for the Global Peace Initiative of Women an organization committed to engaging in inter-faith dialogue as a means of creating world peace, and dedicated to creating both inner and outer peace and harmony in "hot-spots" around the world. As a message of motherhood she works to support youth around the world, as a co-worker with the Global Peace Initiative of Women and the UNDP, preparing for the Global Youth Leadership Summit in 2006.

Betty Williams, along with Mairead Maguire, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against violence in her native Northern Ireland in 1976. She circulated a petition to end violence in Northern Ireland after witnessing British soldiers shoot dead an IRA member who was driving a car. He veered on to the footpath, killing two children from one family instantly and fatally injuring a third. Ms Williams's petition had tens of thousands of Protestant and Catholic women walking the streets together in protest.

Williams and Maguire founded the Community of Peace People, a movement of Catholics and Protestants dedicated to ending sectarian fighting in Northern Ireland. She has continued her work with the Community of Peace People, advocating a nonviolent resolution of the Northern Ireland conflict in speaking engagements and writings. Among other projects, the Peace People organise summer camps in other European countries to provide a setting in which young Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland can come to know one another.

Betty Williams has said many times, the Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded for what one has done but for what one will do. She has traveled extensively, working with fellow Nobel Laureates in trouble spots throughout the world where the cause of peace and especially the safety and well-being of children is a risk. She heads the World Centres of Compassion for Children International, a non-profit group working to create a political voice for children.

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