Today marks the birthday of Gandhi, the revered patriarch of India; it also marks the UN international day of Non-Violence. One of the harsh realities of life is that there will always be conflict, of varying degree and nature, internationally, nationally, to more locally, within the family unit. However, the crucial question is how does one deal with such disputes? Marloes van Houten, Director of The Utrecht Peace and Human Rights summer school believes that conflict is not necessarily bad, “conflict is a disagreement, or the perception that there is a disagreement”. Explaining that there is the potentiality that “A conflict can be solved non-violently and constructively”. Van Houten is one of a burgeoning breed of peace educators that espouse the ethos that “peace can be learnt”. One such educator is Emina Cingel who I met in Colombia, last summer at a unique peace education conference. Canadian citizen Cingel is originally from the former Yugoslavia, but during the break of war was forced to live in a Hungarian refugee camp for a year before finally moving to Canada. Speaking with Cingel she explains: “Reflecting on my childhood in former Yugoslavia and on the images of war. Where do you find help if your mother is a Hungarian, a father Bosnian Croatian and you have a beautiful Muslim name Emina?” Looking back now she recalls asking herself: “what could cause such hatred in humans, the hatred that would turn neighbour against neighbour, son against father, and brother against brother.” With such questions ruminating her thoughts she completed a conflict resolution programme in Canada, advocated for human rights of refugees and coordinated educational programming for war affected children and more recently, undertook a Master's degree in peace education at the University of peace in Costa Rica. It would be understandable for those who have such intimate experience of war and conflict to be somewhat despondent and disillusioned but Cingel, remains full of assurance, stating “it is my deepest belief peace is not only desirable but possible”. Another noteworthy peace educator is Colombian Fabio Ramirez who works for the Colombian Social Development Service (SERCOLDES). Colombia, for many people is synonymous with poverty, armed conflict and half a century of violence permeated by drugs. However, Ramirez is keen to highlight that “[Colombia] is also a territory with many experiences of building non-violence”. SERCOLDES has spent 4 decades promoting education for peace, collective leadership and new possibilities at the grasp of communities themselves. It seems that the community level seems crucial. Stephanie Knox Cubbon is coordinator of the Teachers Without Borders Peace Education program (TWB Peace Education Program ) and is working towards providing “teachers with professional development opportunities in peace education so that they can be agents of peaceful change in their communities”. The notion of being an agent for “peaceful change” in one's community is fundamental, as conflict is prevalent across most societies. Speaking with Muneer Panjwani of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), he explains that “often times so much attention and resources are given to international peace processes that societies largely ignore the multiple ways in which violence presents itself domestically” and states that “peace-building needs to happen simultaneously on macro and micro levels” Panjwani, who was born in India and now lives in the United States, vehemently believes that “bias is a tool of violence as it has the ability to justify violent acts and mask its true impact under a misguided logic”. He explains further: “Bias feeds on little or no accurate information about peoples who are different than us” and considers “[that] education is the one tool that can effectively fight bias based violence in our communities”. Panjwani brings together people of different colours, religions, ethnicities and those who “rarely get the chance to honestly connect with each other, heterosexual people and LGBT identified people who often times feel unsafe around each other, Christians, Jews, and Muslims who are socialized to think a certain way about each other. These are the groups we bring together and have them talk honestly about what their thoughts, experiences, and feelings are about each other” The work of individuals such as Panjwani , Cingel and Fabio is deeply encouraging. So often the perceived architects of peace are politicians (past and present), governments and the UN and although they have their place, such bodies can often render the ordinary person disempowered, frustrated and feeling unable to contribute to peace. Nevertheless, the accounts mentioned, perhaps draw attention to folk who are facilitating peace and testimony to the belief that in Gandhi's words: “In a gentle way, you can shake the world”. ** Permission to republish this article in full was given by the author. BM
