While empowering the women, the storytelling itself also provides important clues about finding access into these hidden communities, identifying the most likely allies within each community, and understanding the complicated choices the women make in seeking or not seeking help.

鈥淭heir courage and resilience are breathtaking,鈥� says Stauffer, assistant professor of at 黑料正能量.

Called 鈥淪ilent Violence,鈥� the project recently garnered a $10,200 grant from (TJPX), which focuses on individuals and organizations working for effective change through innovative approaches to societal challenges relating to gender, environmental and/or economic justice. TJPX is administered by through the Everence affiliate, Mennonite Foundation.

Six projects were awarded approximately $58,000 from a pool of 15 applicants, according to Joseph Lapp, managing director at the Harrisonburg Everence office.

鈥淭he Advisory Committee believes this project is a positive method of vocalizing the silence around domestic violence,鈥� Lapp said. Upon successful completion of the first-year goals, an additional $7,100 will be awarded to complete the project in its second year.

鈥淰ocalizing the silence鈥� is an important and restorative component of this study, Stauffer says. 鈥淲e are using a strengths-based approach and want to build on and help surface the assets and resilient strategies these women have been developing. They are obviously surviving and going on with their lives. So what can they teach us about the strategies they are using, and the relationships and social support networks they are building?鈥�

The women鈥檚 stories are also helping researchers identify 鈥渨hat we鈥檙e calling structural holes,鈥� Stauffer continues. 鈥淗ow are our ideologies or institutions complicit? What are the gaps within the system that these women are falling through? These particular groups of women exist under circumstances where protections and services are less likely to reach them.鈥�

Bridget Mullins is among several master鈥檚 level students with the who have contributed to the research since the project鈥檚 inception. Fluent in Spanish from several years of living in Latin America, Mullins partnered with Cristian Quezada (MA `13 in ) to conduct interviews with many of the Latina women. She鈥檚 now preparing to conduct interviews within the two other communities.

鈥淢y favorite moment during these interviews is the last question,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat last question is, 鈥榃hat advice would you give to women in a similar situation?鈥� Their voices shine through. You can see them looking with hindsight and realizing how much they have been through, and drawing on their wisdom to communicate hope to other women who might be living through something similar.鈥�

One important goal of the project is social transformation. Some participants have taken part in circle processes to share and reflect on their experiences or in a facilitated by Cristian and Anita Quezada. Stauffer is also working on other ways to safely share the women鈥檚 stories without compromising confidentiality or putting them in danger.

A one-day symposium involving survivor groups, service providers, business, academic, religious and public officials is being planned for next year.

Stauffer notes that the financial commitment from the JustPax Fund is an important affirmation of the need to address micro-level violence and create a place to safely and carefully house these narratives as 鈥渟acred stories鈥� of our collective life. She views an arts-based approach as 鈥減articularly effective because it unlocks many parts of who we are that would otherwise remain trapped in trauma responses.鈥�

鈥淥ur faith tradition is peace-oriented on an international level,鈥� Stauffer says, 鈥渁nd we have focused a lot of time and energy on that kind of macro-violence, but we haven鈥檛 been as forthcoming about the violence that is happening within our intimate domains, here at home, and in our communities.

“At the end of the day, if we鈥檙e ignoring this type of violence, we鈥檙e undermining our peace witness. This project addresses that and helps us see ways that we can surface those stories, validate them and work to address those needs in the families and communities where we live.鈥�

鈥淒are to be laughed at, mocked and scorned.鈥�

A Nobel Peace Prize winner gave those words of advice to Sunday afternoon.

Leymah Gbowee (pronounced bowie) 鈥� a 2007 鈥� addressed a crowd of 467 graduates, along with their friends, family members and 黑料正能量 faculty during the university鈥檚 96th commencement Sunday on the campus lawn.

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Gbowee, whose son Joshua was a member of the graduating class, encouraged graduates to reach for their dreams but also to learn how to stay in the moment.

鈥淓mbracing the present allows us to see practical ways to make a difference even when our lives are in conditions of pain,鈥� she said.

Gbowee, who is Liberian, won the Nobel Prize for her contributions to a women鈥檚 peace movement that helped bring about the end of the second Liberian Civil War in 2003.

She recalled a woman from her country who had lost two sons to civil wars. The woman came to a protest and got involved because she didn鈥檛 want others to lose their sons.

鈥淗er present was full of heartaches and pains but she chose to embrace it for a better future for Liberia,鈥� Gbowee said.

Gbowee was a poor mother of two and only had a high school diploma, but decided she wouldn鈥檛 let her income or social status, or her lack of a college education, limit her.

鈥淚 never set out to be a global women鈥檚 rights activist,鈥� Gbowee said. She just wanted to make a difference.

And she did.

Among her efforts was an initiative working with young girls in Liberia.

Many young people in her community had sexual relations early in life and wound up pregnant before they had a chance to finish school, she said.

One day Gbowee invited four girls from that environment into her living room. She was thrilled when, many years later, one graduated from high school without having had children of her own.

鈥淭hat was like a Nobel Peace Prize for me,鈥� Gbowee said.

She encouraged 黑料正能量 graduates to not let others鈥� perceptions of what they will do after graduation stop them.

All one needs is a 鈥渃razy idea or concern and a whole bunch of enthusiasm,鈥� to make a difference in people鈥檚 lives, Gbowee said.

Having one friend who helps can be a big plus, she said, citing the examples of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, she added: 鈥淭he world is crying out for risk-takers and change-makers. The future depends on what we do in the present.鈥�

Cristian Quezada, 33, a Santiago, Chile, native who received a with an emphasis in and , said it was an 鈥渋mmense privilege鈥� to hear Gbowee.

鈥満诹险芰�, and particularly [the ], focuses on the importance of being relevant peacebuilder practitioners that are generators of transformative revolutions, so Leymah鈥檚 address felt tremendously relevant to us all.鈥�

Mariana Lorenzana, 52, is a school teacher at Smithland Elementary in Harrisonburg.

Originally from Honduras, Lorenzana said she wanted to be an example to the Latino community and her children.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy, but it鈥檚 not impossible,鈥� she said, after attaining her master鈥檚 degree in education.

It took her three years of going to college part-time to finish, said Lorenzana, who has been teaching for 20 years.

鈥淚 wanted to give back to the community,鈥� she said. 鈥満诹险芰� gave me the opportunity to continue working, be a mom and get a higher education.鈥�

Courtesy of the Daily News Record, April 28, 2014