What lessons can young Londoners learn from Burundi?
Truce 2020 is a charity that takes conflict resolution skills developed in war-torn countries and brings them to young people in one of the poorest areas of London.
Around half of the children in Newham live below the poverty line and violent crime is almost double the national average.
Operating out of a small community centre, the charity brings young people together in weekly workshops in which they use games and role-play to consider how conflicts evolve and can be contained.
Every few months the organisation invites speakers from around the world to share their experiences; Landry Niteretse is from Burundi, a poor African country which is emerging from a 12-year civil war.
He runs a youth club in Burundi that employs many of the same skills being taught to these young people in Newham.
Mr Ninteretse tells the participants of Truce2020 that although there are big differences in context between Burundi and Newham, he believes that in both places people can decide to go against the grain and make a difference in their communities.
23 Dec 2010
- From the section Education & Family