However, out of these encouraging experiences, new challenges are arising. I shall mention only one. We have been strong in overcoming dictatorships nonviolently, but we are weak in preparing and building the alternatives, the new societies. Wars and dictatorships leave nations materially and morally battered. In most cases a new, just, humane, democratic society is not ready and waiting to arise.
Divisions remain deep, hatred and revenge fill hearts and minds.
Extreme poverty leads to criminal actions, with Mafiosi groups profiting from the dissolution of the old order. For the most part they combine the inner healing with the social and political dimension, knowing that their small contribution can only be effective as part of an integrated, persevering campaign. In Madagascar, for example, there is an effort now underway to help landless, outcast people to build rural communities. Others are teaching nonviolence in schools and towns, sometimes making use of local radio. In Burundi, there are initiatives all over the country to bring Hutus and Tutsis together in small groups to begin the long, hard road toward reciprocal forgiveness and reconciliation.