After having grown up with 5 brothers and sisters in a small village in Austria/Europe, Marion studied Environmental Engineering and worked for different environmental organizations. In 2006 she went to Tumaco, Colombia to do an internship for her studies, when she got caught by this wonderful country and its people.

At the Peace University in Schlaining, Austria, Marion did a workshop on non-violence led by IFOR Austria and Hildegard Goss-Mayr. In conversations after the workshop she became interested in joining the accompaniment project of IFOR USA in the peace community of San Jose de Apartado. Marion started her gorgeous time of beans, rice and peace community in November 2009.

Chris Courtheyn is a native of Santa Cruz, California. He originally served on the San José team from February '08 to February '09, and after falling in love with the people and process of the Peace Community, is back for more in 2010. Chris' desire to work as a human rights accompanier in Colombia stem from his Catholic upbringing, engagement with nonviolent teachings at Santa Cruz's Resource Center for Nonviolence, and his B.A. degree in Latin American Studies from UC Berkeley.

Peter Cousins grew up in Cornwall, UK, and went on to study German and Spanish language and literature at undergraduate level. Following graduation, he worked in inner-city Glasgow with asylum seekers, in Cambridge with homeless people and for local government in Cornwall.

These experiences sowed the seeds of an increasing interest in peace work, and in 2007 Peter returned to studies, apparently Mastering the Art of Conflict Resolution at Bradford University. Joining the FOR team

Rachel Dickson studied Spanish Area Studies and International Studies at Kenyon College in Ohio. She has worked for a bilingual political magazine in Guatemala, has taught English in Colombia, has studied philosophy and history in Cuba, interned at In These Times magazine, and worked on counter-recruitment at American Friends Service Committee in Chicago. She is currently enjoying her time on FOR’s team in La Unión. Read her blog » read more

Check out Moira´s blog

Having served as the last Freeman Fellow in the FOR Colombia Program, Moira is happy to be continuing her work with FOR promoting peace in Colombia. Moira has also worked on researching community-based models of alternative economies, advocating for affordable housing, and promoting environmental protection. Moira graduated with honors from the University of Michigan.

Before coming to Colombia, Moira could often be found on a bicycle, riding in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, she gets plenty of exercise hiking the mountains of the Peace Community, along with the yoga she does every morning. Moira is gobbling up every novel found in the little library in the FOR house, and is learning to cook without an oven, a refrigerator, or most of the spices she used to cook with in the States.

Susana Pimiento Chamorro, Task Force co-director, began coordination of the FOR Colombia program in June of 2005. Susana is an attorney (Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá) and holds a Masters in Public Policy (Institute for Social Studies, The Hague). She formerly co-directed US office of The Sunshine Project, where she conducted research and advocacy on arms control and co-organized a campaign to halt the use of biological weapons in the Drug War. She has worked on the fields of environmental policy, indigenous peoples rights, international and constitutional law. Her previous experience also includes managing the World Wildlife