found this somewhat disconcerting within the context of this group, because the sentiment was coming from people involved with peacebuilding, and students studying peace and conflict at a high level. It appears that when people have no outlet to express their hurts and anger, they will channel their revenge or desire for revenge against innocent members of the group from which the offenders originate (see Botcharova, 2001). This phenomenon is similar to displaced aggression theory in psychology, wherein the target of the aggression is not the source of the initial harm, and is usually less powerful than both the initial offender and offended (Anderson & Bushman, 2002; Kramer, 2000; Finch, 2006). Of course this dynamic can entrench long-term cycles of violence and revenge, hence the need for victims to be assisted to deal with this desire for vengeance constructively. Motivation to Resilience The issues of resilience and agency arose as some of the benefits participants had gained from the workshop. Resilience could be defined as the ability to bounce back from adversity or, according to Rivas (2007), the “ability to respond positively to a stressful event or negative conditions” (p. 1). On the other hand agency could be defined as the capacity of human beings to shape the circumstances in which they live, rather than being shaped by them (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998; Abele, et al., 2008). I surmise that both these aspects are necessary to transform from being a victim to a survivor. One is about internal fortitude and the other goes further to influence the status quo to one’s advantage. In our case, lessons were drawn from an actual tree we spent some time studying. This tree had one of its boughs sawn off, several scars on its trunk, and one branch which at one time seemed to have been growing downwards but had managed to grow upwards again. This particular tree presented an excellent analogy of the type of life experiences through which participants had gone. While analyzing this tree and comparing it to our lives, it became clear to all just how much adversity the tree had endured, and this became an inspiration to the participants of how it was possible to overcome their personal adversities and live victoriously in spite of their circumstances. Following were some of the attributes of the tree which participants thought instructive. Firstly, the tree continues to grow healthily because its roots— the centre of its life--are intact. “E” concluded that: It helped me a lot, because when I observe, the tree won’t die if you cut it and leave its roots. That is the first thing I realized: that as long as the roots are not removed the tree will not die...As long as it has roots it will always grow, this is one of the things I liked. If I am cut..., but then still you as a