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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 19, 2007 - 3 Stone packs dispute resolution skills for Ghana By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Stacey Stone has always called Oakville home, but last weekend she boarded a plane bound for a refugee camp in west Africa that 30,000 people have called home for the last decade. Stone, 28, is volunteering at the United Nations (UN) camp Buduburam located about 30 miles outside Ghana's capital of Accra. Ghana is in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. More than 1.9 million live in its capital Accra, and not far away, the refugee camp houses some 40,000 Liberians who arrived there a decade ago when war drove them from their homes and communities. Now, 10 years later, it's where they remain -- still away from their homeland yet still set apart from life in Ghana. It's the ideal place for Stone to satisfy her craving for adventure and share her expertise in dispute resolution. "I was so surprised because I couldn't believe how applicable it was to what I was doing," said Stone, who has just wrapped up her Masters degree from the University of Victoria. Though Stone had worked for some time in Ottawa for Correctional Services Canada and more recently for the federal government's Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, she eventually headed home to Oakville to take a break for a few months so she could finish her RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER READY FOR ADVENTURE: Oakville native Stacey Stone is ready for adventure at a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana. thesis -- an impossible endeavour, she found, while working full-time and even part time. When a friend suggested an international aid organization at the same time Stone was contemplating what she'd do between finishing her Masters and hopefully heading back to work in Ottawa, her life fell into place. The Loyola graduate applied, and was quickly accepted, by New Zealand-based Global Volunteer Network (GVN) to work with its Ghana-based cohort, Population Caring Organization (PCO). PCO is a humanitarian nongovernmental agency (NGO) dedicated to the well being of young people in West Africa, especially Liberians. Stone explained she'll be working through PCO's peace and education program. She will put her dispute resolution experience to good use in assisting those in the refugee camp to better live with their neighbours. On a more complex level, Stone said she expects to speak to the Liberian refugees about their experiences through war in order to provide an accurate record of their history to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was established this past summer in Liberia. Stone explains that while there are always at least two sides to every story, it's usually the victor's version that is recorded as history -- something truth commissions work to more fairly balance so that there is an accurate record of the past. Speaking of their experiences will assist the refugees in validating their experiences and contribute to their healing, said Stone. The Oakville woman who will spend two months working at the camp admitted she wasn't initially attracted to the geographic area. However, when she worked the history into her thesis, it took on life for her. Stone has also done a lot of research -- so much so that she said any so-called butterflies in her stomach about her adventure have long since disappeared. She has a large document compiled for her parents -- information on where she is and how to reach her as they admittedly do have some butterflies about the trip. She has learned that you don't just walk into markets or shops and ask for what you want -- it's customary to exchange small talk first. You never pass someone anything with your left hand because of hygiene customs. The area is safe, but she's still a long way from home in a very foreign country. Stone said she did worry when she realized how many inoculations she had to have to travel there, but said she's probably good now for life. The shots were expensive, too, but Stone said she's much happier to be safe than sorry. "I'd much prefer to be safe and healthy when I return home," she said. 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