Rumors of Peace - Issue 3 2006 - Nonviolent Peaceforce

Rumors of Peace
PAGE Volume VI, Issue 3 ◆ 2006
Youth Conference Connects By Maya Main
This summer, I interned with the Nonviolent Peaceforce as a Youth
Organizer, preparing NP’s 2nd annual Youth Conference on Nonviolence.
Thirteen participants from North Minneapolis and St. Cloud,
ages 14-22, represented a wide range of cultures and ethnicities, with
all of the students being people of
color. The conference focused on
personalizing the concept of nonviolence
into our everyday lives,
from how we communicate with
each other to how we resolve conflicts.
The weekend was extremely
powerful and very telling. It was
also a great opportunity for NP
to create relationships with urban
youth. While our organisation
focuses on international conflict,
it is important to interact with our
neighbors, young people in particular,
as many of them experience
conflict on a daily basis.
One of the most significant things the facilitators did this weekend
was listen and empathize with the experiences of the participants.
We did not tell the youth how they should live nonviolently because
we recognized the drastic differences of our varied experiences and
backgrounds. Because you cannot force someone to be nonviolent, the
curriculum for the conference allowed the participants to decide for
themselves how they could effectively apply the tools we learned. We
role-played conflicts that we were currently experiencing. I encouraged
the participants to think outside the box but also to challenge
the applicability and feasibility of the tools and scenarios presented
to them. Self-directed change, I
believe, is the most powerful and
sustaining type of change. Having
made a connection with the North
Minneapolis and Saint Cloud communities,
we must now focus our
training curricula on empowering
youth to use their own stories and
assist them in identifying how nonviolence
can be useful in their lives.
I can confidently say that each
participant, including myself, walked
away on Sunday morning having
changed in his or her own unique
way. Recently, I met with the director
Urban youth at NP sponsored conference.
of the North Minneapolis organisation
where some of the youths were from. I briefed him on the conference
and discussed next steps. He showed me an article that one of
the female participants had written: she wrote about how she was now
evaluating different situations where she could respond nonviolently
and prevent conflicts from escalating into violence. Hearing this, even
from just one participant, made me feel that we had been successful.
Nonviolent Peaceforce Training for Trainers Gathering in Thailand
Ten Days in July—Building
for the Future
by Jan Passion
Nonviolent Peaceforce plans to
increase our capacity so that NP could mobilize
hundreds or even thousands of trained
peace workers to a conflict situation. To this
end, NP held our first Training for Trainers
in Thailand in July—bringing together 26
peace trainers from 19 different countries
and all of the inhabited continents, with a
wealth of experience from many different
conflict zones.
NP is now ready to provide the essential
“Core Training” to large numbers of field
staff in multiple languages and to offer
multiple Core Trainings at the same time.
This is a critical step in NP’s development
and our plan to grow exponentially and thus
increase our impact in the field of nonviolent
intervention.
Working to build on NP’s experience
on the ground, the training included two
members from NP’s Sri Lanka Project and
five previous leaders of NP’s Core Trainings.
Striving to learn from similar third party
nonviolent intervention organisations, two
trainers from Peace Brigades International
also attended.
For ten days we learned about NP, shared
our diverse experiences, talked about the
skills needed for Field Team Members for
NP and practiced the delivery of various
activities. We created and participated in
role plays, deepened our own practice and
understanding of nonviolence, improved
our intercultural communication skills and
talked about the dynamics and challenges
of working in intercultural teams in conflict
zones. For a half-day, we participated in a
simulation of life in a war zone and of how
field staff work to protect civilian lives in
such situations, building strong training
teams and preparing ourselves to be able
to deliver solid, successful Core Trainings
for NP.
The group included roughly equal numbers
of women and men and people from the
global south and the global north. The age
range was from 27 through 65. The years
and wealth of experience found in this group
of trainers was most inspiring—a gathering
of teachers, NGO workers, activists, trainers,
and field workers with a passionate commitment
to nonviolence, justice and peace.
Together we are building viable alternatives
to war.
Nonviolence trainers at the opening of the
Training of Trainers. Photo by Jan Passion.