Friends Peace Teams' Indonesia Initiative

"I see the world's resources brought to bear in disaster areas every day. Where we consistently fail is where you seem to succeed - re-establishing education and livelihoods, healing trauma and reducing violence."

Director for Disaster Relief Indonesia 2007

The Indonesia Initiative of Friend's Peace Teams seeks to connect communities of conscience between the U.S. and Indonesia to provide opportunities for conscientious service. With friends and partners in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java and Central Java, we support early childhood development, human rights defenders and nonviolence workshops.

Building mutual friendships requires entering other worlds - worlds very different from our own and finding our common humanity. We are building friendships among people in Indonesia and the US.

We work with human rights defenders, conflict "refugees," and teachers of young children in East Aceh, Tamiang & North Sumatra who:

• do not support violence & war
• do not take sides

and survived

• thirty years of war
• a global tsunami
• 8.9 richter-scale earthquakes
• flooding from deforestation and illegal palm plantations

We share a faith... across religion, class & culture ...in the power of a Living Spirit to give life, joy, peace, and prosperity through love, integrity and compassionate justice among people who live in simplicity and equality.

We call this our real work - seeking to live with clear consciences and to connect communities of conscience.