In the 1890s, William "Bill Pickle" Gilliland was working as a janitor at Penn State. On the side, he was supplying alcohol to the 1,400 students who lived in a small, boondocks town where saloons were banned -- State College, Pa. Then, in 1911, Pickle met Frank Buchman, founder of the Moral Re-Armament, who befriended the bootlegger. The unusual friendship between the two men influenced Pickle to become a Christian, to stop drinking, and to convince students to do the same.

At the first Caux Forum for Human Security, 400 peace-makers met to think about issues of human security in fresh ways, search for a deeper diagnosis of the world’s ills and build greater trust among those seeking solutions.

The third Tools for Change conference at Caux (July 25 – August 1) opened with flags from more than 70 countries projected onto a screen. That spirit of welcome continued throughout what one participant called “the most integrated conference” he had ever attended. The faculty alone represented 15 countries, including Malaysia, France, Argentina and Australia. More than 50 percent of the 400 participants were under age 35.

Rajmohan Gandhi read excerpts from Gandhi, The Man, His People and the Empire, his new biography of Mohandas Gandhi, to more than 100 people gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Gandhi said one of his most powerful memories of his grandfather was the friendly way he responded to those hostile to his ideas.

Imam Mohammed Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, from Kaduna, Nigeria, were invited to Washington DC, 1–4 April, for a series of meetings and workshops at the US Agency for International Development focusing on religious actors engaged in peacebuilding.

Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye from Nigeria brought their message of peace and reconciliation to western Canada in January/February as guests of Initiatives of Change.

The Washington Post of Monday, 22 October, carried a page 2 story about an International Peacebuilding Panel held on Sunday at Emory University, in Atlanta Georgia, featuring the Dalai Lama and Rajmohan Gandhi, together with Rabbi David Rosen, President of the International Jewish Committee, Sister Joan Chittister, author of 30 books on contemporary Christianity, and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, the CH Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law School.

Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and Visiting Professor in the Program of Middle East and South Asia Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, visited Washington, DC, with his wife Usha in late March.

Author Rajmohan Gandhi and his wife Usha will visit Washington, DC, March 20 – 25 for a series of public occasions and private meetings.

The 40 participants in Initiatives of Change's Los Angeles Forum included educators, professionals, business people and students representing various ethnic, racial and faith communities.