Meditations on Violence

Profile: Guerra Frietas

Our guest speaker on Monday, November 17, 2003 was Guerra Frietas, the founder and CEO of SHAREcircle. SHAREcircle is a humanitarian relief and development organization focusing on post-war reconstruction in Angola.

As Angola emerges from a brutal decades-long civil war, SHARE has been working to provide development opportunities for Angolans. Their projects range from rebuilding schools, providing education to help people avoid landmines, promoting sustainable development initiatives, and giving employment opportunities to former child-soldiers.

Guerra has a long-history of confronting violence. He survived Angola's civil war at a very high cost: his first wife and child were killed. He has stepped on landmines several times.

Guerra is now in the Chicago area working to complete his doctorate while running SHAREcircle. Guerra is also an expert in the Angolan martial art Kaci Kwata, which comes from the Central Highlands of Angola. It is passed down from one generation to the next-and it remains largely secret and unknown outside of the clan to which Guerra belongs. It has an interesting philosophy and set of beliefs. The traditional greeting in Kaci Kwata, is "Ocily?", which can be translated as "nothingness" or "what is truth". The reply is "Ove o Tava?" which means "What do you believe?"

Guerra shared his experiences of confronting violence in Angola and working for Angola's reconstruction.