Latest News from MPI

: Fred Goddard; 22 June 2018

Article About MPI Wins Award

An article about the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute that was published in Misioneros, a Spanish publication about the work of Maryknoll Missioners, won an award from the Catholic Press Association of the United States & Canada. The article, Un Refugio para Fomentar la Paz Mundial (A Refuge for Peacebuilding) took second place in the in the 2018 Awards, "Best Story and Photo Package."

Co-authored by Kimberly Asencio and Fred Goddard, the CPA wrote:

The topic of this story—the work of peace builders in the Philippines—is important and consequential. The translated
story is well illustrated, with a lovely, moody lead photograph and several photos that are used efficiently in a clean,
easy-to-read layout.

You may read the Spanish version here: https://misionerosmaryknoll.org/2017/05/refugio-fomentar-la-paz-mundial/

The English version can be found here: https://maryknollmagazine.org/2017/05/a-refuge-for-peacebuilding/

MPI’s New Annual Training Program Officer Novee Rafaela

MPI is pleased to announce that Novee Wila M. Rafaela has been hired as MPI's Annual Training Program Officer. Novee replaces the former Annual Training Program Officer, Rhea Silvosa, who left MPI to pursue a Master of Global Affairs – International Peace Studies degree at the University of Notre Dame in the USA.

Novee is a graduate of Southern Christian College (SCC) in Midsayap, Cotabato, Philippines, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Extension Education. After graduation in 2016, she worked as a part-time senior high and college teacher at SCC.

Shaping the World

This article was originally published on the Elizabethtown College blog of MPI Facilitator Jon Rudy.

The Republic of Bendora is an island nation surrounded by lesser islands like Renbel, Kula, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Laos and Canada to name a few. Fictitious of course, Bendora is the name of one of the case study scenarios we used in the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) Human Centered Security course. Our training design was hands-on and used made-up scenarios with real-world challenges. Newly designed to help those seeking to reframe security paradigms in their countries, this course tasked work groups to use conflict analysis and mapping skills. One starting assumption in Human Security include that nations are most secure when the needs of people (freedom from fear, freedom from want and respect for dignity) are the reference points (click on image for a larger map).

This year at MPI we had a major delegation from the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation, and Peace in the Solomon Islands. During group work participants from five other countries tackled the Bendoran security issues which included clan tensions, an earthquake, outside meddling by foreign powers and weak governance. I observed that, in the minds of the participants, Bendora was imagined as an island nation among many other islands. The Bendoran mapping exercise proved the truism that our world is shaped by our perspective.

MPI Welcomes Global Mission Fellow Mely Sabina E. Lengkong

MPI is please to welcome Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries Mely Sabina Lekong. Mely will be with MPI for about two years working in alumni outreach.

The following brief bio and picture are from the Global Ministries website:

Mely Sabina Ester Lengkong Mely is from Indonesia, where she is a member of GKI Kwitang, a large independent church in Jakarta. She holds a Bachelor of Social and Political Science degree from the Christian University of Indonesia in Jakarta, with an emphasis on international relations. She has worked in financial administration, marketing, and youth services. Mely is originally from Bekasi in East Bekasi/West Java.

Reading the Bible from start to finish as a young girl helped Mely to gain a positive outlook and patience in facing adversity. A major challenge came in relation to her desire to study international relations, an opportunity at first denied but which became possible through scholarship support from her local church.

Mely is committed to using her energy, knowledge, and skills to contribute to society and tell other people about the miracle-working love of God.

Learning by Doing

This piece originally appeared in the online Elizabethtown College Faculty Blog of Jon Rudy and is reposted here with permission.

Chicken War Sign saying "Do not tresspass or you will be dead" Things got really tense in Dapat when young John killed the neighbors chicken. In fact, tensions broke out to the point where the lowlanders blockaded the highlanders, threatening to kill any who crossed into their territory. Some tenacious villagers from the highlands succeeded in bringing the two sides together to negotiate a settlement. And then we stepped in and called a halt to the whole thing.

Tense times in the chicken war participants standing guard Called “The Chicken War,” this fictitious scenario was one of the simulations we use regularly at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI), held annually in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines. Written several years ago, it starts with a young highlander innocently throwing a rock and killing a neighbor’s chicken, which sparks simmering tensions into wholesale war. All too real in its narrative, we regularly cast participants as community leaders, police, apathetic citizens, and peacemakers. Also like real life, there are those present who just don’t want peace.

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