09/13/09

Who are we?

Dr. Seddiq Weera and Professor Graeme MacQueen of McMaster University's Centre for Peace Studies in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, co-ordinated the project. Dr. Weera currently (2008) works with the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan and oversees the implementation of the stories in Kabul classrooms.

The stories of A Journey of Peace were written by four authors and illustrated by two artists based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Each of the authors donated their time and love to the project. The artists were commissioned through a grant from CIDA ( the Canadian International Development Agency).

The authors: Dr. Joanna Santa Barbara, Mary Jo Land, Kevin Land and Dr. Graeme MacQueen.

The illustrators: Yar Mohammad Taraky and L. Gafori.

The Journey of Peace stories are part of a larger Peace and Reconciliation Education Project created by the authors and others working from at the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Please refer to the www.mcmaster.ca and follow the links to The Centre for Peace Studies for more information.

Dr. Joanna Santa Barbara

Joanna Santa Barbara is a child psychiatrist, and a member of the Faculty of Health Sciences and of the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She has been associated with peace work in Afghanistan since 2001, including the storybooks and puppets project, and also the training of peace educators in that country and the promotion of discussion of national reconciliation. She is a member of Physicians for Global Survival - Canada, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and of TRANSCEND, a peace and development organization.

Mary-Jo Land

Mary-Jo Land is a Certified Child Psychotherapist and Play Therapist with private practices in Hamilton and Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Although her work is primarily in the field of child welfare, secondary attachments and divorce, she has worked for several years in conjunction with the other authors creating these healing stories for war-affected children and their families. Her goal is to have these stories available to children and educators world-wide, in many languages, through the internet. The puppets that have accompanied the stories to Kabul, Afghanistan have been a particularly rewarding facet of this project.

Mary-Jo lives with her husband Kevin and their five children in Ancaster, Ontario Canada. Please feel free to contact her at homeland@sympatico.ca.

Kevin Arthur Land

Kevin Land is a playwright and author of more than twenty plays with productions across Canada and in Great Britain. In this project, Kevin assisted with editing, continuity and writing. Kevin lives with his wife Mary-Jo and their five children in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at homeland@sympatico.ca.

Dr. Graeme McQueen

Dr. Seediq Weera

Yar Taraky

L. Gafori