Jitka Hromek-Vaitla has an interesting name that reflects a history full of stories. Born in Czechoslovakia, she grew up under the communist regime and was 11 when the “Velvet Revolution” ushered in a new era of democracy in 1989. Jitka brings her personal experience to her role as the new Program Director of The Caux Scholars Program. “It is so important for young people from emerging democracies to meet the world at Caux and learn skills that they can apply to post conflict societies,” she says.

Jennifer Helgeson is an American currently working as a researcher at the London School of Economics Grantham Centre for Climate Change and is co-director of the Environment & Economy group – part of IofC’s Caux Forum for Human Security. She reports on her time in Durban.

Distinguished historians of the Civil War and its aftermath spoke on “Healing the Wounds of History: North-South, Black-White” at a special forum in Washington, DC, on December 12. “We want to explore how the wounds of history are playing into the political polarization,” said former diplomat Joseph Montville, the moderator, noting that “resentment is very much alive in Congress today.”