AMHERST — With 30 years of work in the valley and around the world, the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding is welcoming people from around the region to celebrate three decades of community-based work.

To highlight the nonprofit’s work, the Karuna Center will welcome Rosette Sebasoni, who was the in-country program manager for the organization’s Healing our Communities program in Rwanda from 2016 to 2019. Sebasoni, who is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, has returned to the country over the past year to collect stories of reconciliation between ex-perpetrators and those they harmed.

The free event, which is open to all, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Amherst Woman’s Club, 35 Triangle St.

“The idea is to try and look at the gamut of what the organization has done since Paula started it,” said Executive Director Polly Byers, referencing Karuna Center Founder Paula Green, who died in 2022. “The core is at the human level.”

Byers said Sebasoni’s remarks will “highlight the power of the work” the Karuna Center has done throughout the last 30 years. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, and state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, will also be in attendance.

The Karuna Center’s programs are often focused on empowering people in areas impacted by violent conflicts by working closely with other organizations on the ground in countries like Rwanda, Nigeria and Myanmar by developing peacebuilding systems that can be used for generations to come. These systems are typically focused on dialogue and conflict analysis skills and the building of networks to prevent and mitigate violence.

Work is also being done domestically, including in the Pioneer Valley. The organization has partnered with the Amherst-Pelham, Frontier and Mohawk Trail regional school districts to implement restorative justice practices.

The nonprofit’s 30th anniversary also marks the conclusion of the “Protecting our Communities” project in Nigeria, which has brought together farmers and herders in the Sahel region who are facing pressures due to climate change.

Future work, Byers said, will be focused on launching a “partners network for frontline peace-building organizations” and focused on “capacity building.” The Karuna Center tries to be a “catalyst” and build the “strength and skills of all these little organizations,” she said. 

“The point in working with all of these organizations is that it’s really interesting learning from each other,” Byers said. “More and more, I want to see us move in the direction of supporting these partner organizations.”

For more information about the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, visit its website at Karunacenter.org.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.