While there is no way to compensate for atrocity, there is a way to transcend it, by making it a gift to others.
Judith Herman in Trauma and Recovery, p.36
I have heard, witnessed, and experienced prevalent truths that are common to advocates, peace and development workers, and frontliners regardless of their platform to achieve the goals of justpeace in communities during the MPI 2022 Annual Peacebuilding Training with the theme Emerging Realities: How Do We Respond as Peacebuilders? Here are chunks of realities from all over the world as generously shared by fellow-peacebuilders-turned-friends wrapped into a gift of wisdom while serving as a class assistant.
Sacrifices, commitment, passion, and capacities to usher in peace and justice have wounded and scarred peacebuilders, too.
Peace workers have sacrificed and survived the demands and zany realities of peacebuilding work in an already challenging area of responsibility where war, dissension, division, poverty, and social injustice are among the day-to-day concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic limited the movement of frontliners, and their ability to conduct just interventions was vastly affected. This year’s act of coming together with fellow peacebuilders from different parts of the world is likened to a fleece blanket on cold, rainy days.
You are a fleece blanket on cold, rainy days.
In the pursuit of peace, frontliners driven by their passion and compassion to bring what is just and lawful to their community have given much more than what they have at hand. Often, they would do everything to stretch limited supplies and interventions to cater to as many recipients as possible. The values and genuine heart that fuel this passion are undeniably amazing attributes a peacebuilder should possess.
Yet, amid their passionate pursuit, it is only when peacebuilders are given the opportunity to step back and rest from the field that they notice the wounds and scars they have accumulated while serving their communities in the quest towards achieving justpeace. That is what the MPI Annual Peacebuilding Training provides them—the opportunity and time to examine themselves.
I vividly remembered the feeling of having a fleece blanket wrapped around me on cold, rainy days while serving as a class assistant in the Dealing with Trauma in Times of Crisis course. The facilitators created and cultivated a safe space for the training participants, waiting for everyone to listen, examine, feel, and hear themselves. They were given the time, space, and freedom to stay silent and listen more and to be vulnerable and openly pour their heart out to their fellow peacebuilders.
As lessons and activities unfolded, the training showed me an exemplary practice of creating a safe space through freedom by not forcing others to open up when they are not ready. This space was enhanced by the willing and proactive involvement of each participant manifested through comforting vibes and affirmative hugs and nods, the tapping of shoulders, the exchange of personal written letters, and a commitment to listen and be listened to by a fellow peacebuilder. The supportive gaze in one’s silence and the gleaming tears in our eyes while listening to stories of survival resonated healing in our hearts and souls. The environment of acceptance, belongingness, and support in a room filled with fellow peacebuilders, who do not judge nor budge but listen and understand the vast work and depth of wounds by the freed healers is uplifting and truly heartwarming.
Only when we are freed from the things, people, and circumstances that hurt us can we effectively and efficiently hand over our fleece blanket, share, and then create such a space that warms others, especially those who are feeling cold and soaked in the rain of their dire situation. The Dealing with Trauma in Times of Crisis class this year not only brought that warm, affirmative, healing space and healing in itself, but also practical actions and steps. One of the many lessons is simply choosing to be a safe person to friends, colleagues, and comrades by listening and keeping what they have entrusted to us confidentially.
Stare reality in the face and choose to face it head-on.
Challenges and problems along with injustices are as inevitable as breathing air in the pursuit of peace. Only when we stare reality in the face and choose to deal with it head-on can we generate a path to peace amidst hurts, wounds, and problems. One of the participants said, “We should never forget that we have forgiven” in order for us to cross between the thin line of a vengeful, bitter, violent motivation to a loving, sincere forgiving foundation that is at our core. Within our hands lie the choices we make and the challenge to be consistent to the process and values that lead to healing and reconciliation.
The greatest manifestation of peace is love through sincere and genuine forgiveness and the understanding, admission, and acceptance that we were hurt. Yet we chose to not forget that we have forgiven those who have unknowingly and unintentionally wronged us. Through such a lens, peacebuilders can look at people’s situations and actions with the perspective of healing and not with that of bitterness or pain. This is a clear way to deliver the message of peace. As Mark Manson puts it, “ … turn your pain into a tool, your trauma into power, and your problems into slightly better problems.” This is something our fellow peacebuilders from various places could learn from as they address global needs in pursuit of justpeace.
In the Understanding Grassroots Environmental Peace (UGEP) course, we undeniably came face to face with the heart-wrenching brokenness of the earth and our environment. The place we call home, the source of our drinking water and food, is in need of great repair. So many actions have raped and stolen the earth’s natural richness, such as irresponsible mining, farming, and manufacturing, and the patronization of products and systems that bring harm to the earth. The residue and spillage of ammunition, bombs, and bullets during war have polluted the air, land, and water and killed thousands of people.
This devastation has defined the vast amount of work required of peacebuilders and advocates for Mother Earth’s recovery. The situation described above has shown us the ugly truth that the restoration of our land, air, water, and seas will require years. Even the existing recovery efforts are still not enough and have resulted in slow returns. These efforts have not ended the effects of climate change. We are continually experiencing unpredictable temperatures, frequent destructive storms, disruption of our food supply, and increasing health risks (for more information on see Causes and Effects of Climate Change from the United Nations Climate Action). What peacebuilders found is that restoring the earth’s natural richness requires a collaborative, concerted, and united effort to be able to sustain the work for the long haul.
The UGEP class of 2022 encourages us to always plan and think of development endeavors that meet the present needs without compromising future development, for what we do now will be reaped by all of us and our children’s children. Let us leave a trustworthy legacy of stewardship for the next generation.
Stewardship of our natural resources can neither be done alone nor by the few but only through the collaborative, concerted, and united efforts of global, local, and intergenerational workers, partners, and advocates. Unless we do this, we will not be able to glimpse the changes we want to see or breathe life into plans and dreams of restoration. Development actions entail long, tedious, and consistent work and united efforts toward set goals. Good practices and actions should be continuous and be aligned with our values. This is where partnerships play a great role in resolving global concerns. Collaborative work and united and concerted action that builds a win-win solution to both local and global problems create waves of impact and light the path peacebuilders are constructing on which the generations to come can travel.
These are the gifts of wisdom from the chunks of heart-wrenching realities from friends, colleagues, and fellow peacebuilders. As alumni and colleagues have emphasized, in MPI, they have found a family that holds values, practices, purpose, and pursuits that renders support in ways and forms only an individual can reverberate after being one. I can attest because I am among the thousands. This serves as a day-to-day note to be mindful and proactive of every opportunity that contributes to the amplification of our shared values, purpose, and pursuits towards justpeace as a catalyst of change in the world. What better place to begin than being part of the MPI family—to foster and continue relationships, to glean from the global leaders and network of peacebuilders, and to have the opportunity to pass it to the next line of peacebuilders. Sing with us the tune of love and peace with a familiar chord that strikes within us as peacebuilders. Enroll and be part of the MPI 2023 annual training.
Queenilyn M. Liwat served as the class assistant in the DTTC and UGEP classes during the MPI 2022 Annual Peacebuilding Training. She is an alumna of MPI and presently is working for MPI as its Peacebuilding Training Program Officer. As an educator, she has worked in academic institutions in the Philippines from 2010-2014, and as a peace activist, Queenilyn has been engaged with various non-government organizations in the Philippines to present.