ABSTRACT
These three stories tell of small groups that are struggling to improve life in marginalized communities. Two are in urban settings in Brazil and Cameroon; the third is in the mountains of Guatemala. We meet courageous and self-sacrificial women who are empowered by ancient spiritual traditions, in one case mingled with Christianity, and we are challenged by the unshakably principled stance of a Muslim group. There are illustrations of how values are weighted differently in different contexts and of different viewpoints on gender issues. Questions arise about the viability of these small organizations, about how they are run and their style of leadership and also about how funding agencies may ‘use’ the poor whose support is their raison d’être. In all three cases we see the groups’ openness to people of other religious and spiritual traditions making an important contribution to peace in their communities.
