Life On The Line

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO

Young Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese carpenters take part in a teambuilding workshop in eastern Sri Lanka (photo by Ted Giffords)

ABOUT THIS BLOG

In every conflict area in every corner of our world, there are people trying to bring about a sustainable peace. We don’t mean governments, the UN, or foreign NGOs. We mean local grassroots peacebuilders quietly striving for peace in their community. They have amazing stories of resilience, ingenuity, bravery, experience and knowledge to tell. This blog gives them a voice.

Life On The Line is run by the team at Peace Direct– a charity that funds, promotes and learns from grassroots peacebuilders around the world. You can find out more about what we do and the projects we support (in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Kenya, the DRC and here in the UK) at www.peacedirect.org. This blog isn’t for us, it’s for the people and projects we support to have their say. However, just because we’re taking a back seat, it doesn’t mean you should. Have your say. Whether it’s a question, a criticism, a clarification, a point of view or a message of support, this blog is for you too.

Peace Direct

Everyone can do something about peace

CONGO

TRUSTING DIALOGUE

In the DRC, the quest for land remains the principal cause of conflict. The earth is fundamental to the wealth and economic well-being of every family: the earth produces food, food brings money, money reduces poverty and brings hope.

The Centre Resolution Conflits (CRC) was invited to mediate a long running land dispute in the village of Mai-Moya, 55km north of the town of Beni, between an agricultural cooperative, and 14 properties adjacent to the plantation who claim part of their lands have been illegally taken.

This action caused conflict which would be fought out in a number of ways, many of them violent. Hundreds of families have become victims of these conflicts and have no access to either their fields or sources of drinking water. Almost half the village lives with the consequences of these tensions.

We invited all the key players to join in calm discussions following rules of good conduct. We made them see the potential danger that this large population faces. After many messages of peace given over and over again by the CRC members and endorsed by the legal leaders the two parties proposed solutions to the problem. The analysis of their solutions will give way to a compromise on the issues causing conflict. The dividing elements have been moved aside and a peace and peaceful cohabitation agreement has been signed. Everyone will have their stolen land returned and oil palms and coffee on a persons land must never be exploited. These decisions were taken and implemented in an atmosphere of happiness and reconciliation.

“Despite the public slander, beatings and wounds that me and my agents have received during this conflict, I offer forgiveness to all who have done us harm.” Chief

“I haven’t been able to sleep properly for 38 years. Now my heart and my spirit are calm as are those of my community.”

One of the victims of the land dispute

Let us continue to preach peace even more than yesterday,

Henri Bura Ladyi

Director,

Centre for Resolution Conflits, DRC

You can support the work of Henri and his team through Peace Direct's Champions Programme.

SUDAN

SOMETHING POSITIVE

Two weeks ago something remarkable happened - good news came out of Sudan. In a meeting convened by Peace Direct, grassroots peace organisations from North and South (and East and West) came together to form the Collaborative for Peace in Sudan, committed to fulfilling an action plan to prepare for elections, assist with demilititarisation and hold the Government to account. In one of the darkest weeks for Sudan, it seems as though the only people who still have hope are the Sudanese.

Many from the South had not been to the North for 15 or 20 years. Some still chose to avoid coming through the airport, for fear of being hauled off for military service. Most of the participants had little idea that peace and reconciliation work was going on across the whole country. To discover this, to see the values and approaches that were common, gave the meeting tremendous momentum. and the fact that a return to violence across the whole country is a real possibility gave it a sense of urgency. One commented:

"It's not just that we are coming to the North for the first time in twenty years, but it's also to find that out brothers in the North are doing the same work as we are doing in the South. The veil has been torn down."  George Ngoha, SWIDAP

Donors were invited in to hear the action plan, and to take part in one of the exercises that demonstrated how small events can have a big impact - which was one of the main messages of the gathering.

The challenge now is for the Collaborative to live up to its own expectations and those of donors - and for donors to think hard about how they rebalance the huge resources committed to the government of Sudan and the UN, with the tiny amounts allocated to strengthen Sudanese people, who will need to hold their government accountable, and not the West,

Click here for more info on the Collaborative

Carolyn Hayman OBE
Chief Exec, Peace Direct

Letter from Colombia

The Peace Direct Champions Programme supports a number of grassroots peacebuilding projects in conflict areas around the world. One such project is the  Colectivo de Mujeres Pazificas in Cali in Colombia...

Dear Friends,

I would like very much to welcome you to the Champions programme on behalf of everyone at the Colectivo de Mujeres Pazificas. Thanks to the support of Peace Direct’s champions our training school is giving another 50 women the chance to find, develop and promote a peaceful way in Colombia.

Perhaps the best way to talk about our work is by introducing you to one of the women. Her name is Sandra Patricia Londono. She is a young mother with a two year old child who works at the Community Centre and the library in one of the suburbs of Cali. This is her testimony…

“The Course has been an enriching experience not just because of the lectures and the themes they cover, but also because of the participants themselves. There is a diversity of stories, ideas and experiences which provoked interesting reflections from which I have gained new understandings. I have learnt to become aware of the value of being a woman. I have learnt about the struggles and anguishes that we have had to endure as a result of our ancestors and of the need to end or change those myths that oppress and discriminate us.

I have learnt to look for the respect and the legal recognition of our rights, to look for a world characterized by fairness, justice and solidarity, a world of freedom and peace.  I managed to identify and to know about different feminist perspectives, to enrich my vision and vocabulary.

The subject of non-violence moved me greatly since we live in a violent society and need to know mechanisms and ways to disarm the violent one, and contribute to changing this country.  Each of the videos seen and the reflections made in the course show us another face of reality, which if we work together we can change. 

I am very happy to participate in this course, I am very happy to know there are networks that are united and motivated. But it gives me sadness to know that still there are many women who do not have the opportunity to know of and to participate in these spaces, and that there are women still subjugated by men.  I would like to thank the people who run and those who support this project because they make us feel that we are part of the struggle against oppression, discrimination and exclusion; also because we can take and transmit this message to the women of the communities we work in.”

The challenges facing us are great and our resources are limited. However we sincerely believe we are making a difference in Cali and we want to thank you for your support. If you have any comments or questions about the work we are doing please get in touch with us through Peace Direct. We would love to hear from you.

Thank you again,

Martha Quintero,

Colectivo de Mujeres Pazificas