Many youth in Kenya and Rwanda, and in particular youth who head households, live in marginalized situations, facing economic deprivation and daily adversity as they strive to survive and care for their families. Cycles of conflict have ravaged their communities for decades and yet youth live with a sense of hope that they will be a generation to bring peace. This talk will highlight the lives of youth in Kenya and Rwanda, their dreams and visions for their lives, and the movements that youth are making to bring peace and social justice to their communities.
Laura Lee is a PhD candidate and scholar based at UBC's Liu Institute for Global Issues. Her current work focuses on youth sexual health in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province in communities impacted by conflict and HIV. Laura's research interests also include health and social inequities, social suffering and health, resilience, psychosocial well-being of young people, creative and participatory research methodologies, and community-based approaches to research. Laura has worked as a researcher and community health practitioner in Kenya, Rwanda, Angola, Tanzania, India, and Bolivia.
There is limited space available at the venue, and registration is required. For information and to register, click here.
About PeaceTalks
Peace is one of the most complex concepts in human history. It can be understood simply as a state of harmony, or characterized as the lack of violent conflict, or it can be as complicated as the battle for sustaining life and hope and humanity in zones of conflict. Peace Geeks strives to raise public awareness on topics related to peace, human rights and role of communities in social changes. Vancouver Peace Talks is one of the practical projects for raising public awareness on abovementioned topics. The idea is to improve the understanding of the general public and specifically the young people in Vancouver about the approaches related to peace. Peace Talks will be a forum for people to get closer to people in Vancouver and in the global south at a human level. Topics will be varied from personal, local and international levels.
