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People Choosing Peace: Magdalena (South Sudan)

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My name is Magdalena Nandege. I am 23 years old and from South Sudan. I come from Homiri, a village in Budi county. It has a population of about 150,000 people, most of them agro-pastoralists − like my mother, who is a farmer. The county has two secondary schools and eleven primary schools, none of which have access to electricity. Only fifteen per cent of the population is literate.

I am currently training to become a midwife at the Health Science Institute of Torit, the capital city of Imotong state. We are now twenty-four students, down from an original group of thirty-seven – some students stopped coming because of the lack of security, poverty and inadequate transportation. I chose this career because I believe it is important to take care of women.

This belief also led me to enroll in the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN) of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI). I joined the YPN in 2014 after hearing about it from the Eastern Equatoria Youth Union, of which I was secretary for gender and social welfare.

Through this program, I have acquired skills to promote peace within myself and the youth in our community – through conflict management, mediation, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), meditation and entrepreneurship. The program has also helped me acquire confidence by using my artistic talent for a just cause. Drama and stories are very important to convey messages. As a peacemaker, I often train people or engage in community dialogues. I have noticed that when problems are really hard, it is easier to use art, to use words that people understand, because people are able to differentiate between good and wrong through art.

Recently, I have made a short movie on gender-based violence, Magda and Boniface – Forced Marriages, with a group of friends and colleagues from YPN. We used a tablet provided by WPDI to make the film because we could not afford to buy a camera. A fictionalized version of situations that take place in our communities, the film was shot in English, and also in Toposa, Juba Arabic, and Arabic – everyone used their own language.

Through my studies and training with WPDI, UNESCO and UN Women, I have acquired skills in peace-building, conflict management, mediation, meditation, business skills, and the fight against gender-based violence. I have learned a lot about peace and human rights. But this needs to be translated in the languages that people speak at home − it must talk to their hearts.

I think that art can do a lot for peace in South Sudan, so much more than long speeches. It can show positive characters that people can identify with, inviting them to practice peace and sustainable development. We need more art in South Sudan so we can have more peace.

Source: The UNESCO Courier, Image by WPDI.

Top 3: Who’s Working Towards Peace in the World?

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Peace News Staff
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This year’s Nobel Peace Prize highlighted some leading peacebuilders:

3. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was nominated for enforcing peace in the political transition in The Gambia. Their success was hailed a victory for African democracy and bolstered hopes for long-term regional stability.

2. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was recognized for standing up for refugees. Over 65 million people are now forcibly displaced, worldwide and the UNHCR has defended refugee rights, giving them a voice.

1. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the 2017 Peace Prize for their ground-breaking efforts to prohibit nuclear weapons.

“They have also brought the debate forward by focusing so heavily on the humanitarian consequences of using nuclear arms,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

“We have a lot of organizations that are members but have worked with little resources, a lack of media attention and kind of ignored by mainstream media, so I think this will really – this will mean the world to us, this is going to change everything,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN.

From the Ground Up: The Lives of Afghan Mothers

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Kathy Kelly
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Op-ed: Kathy Kelly co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence. In Kabul, she is the guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers.

On a recent Friday at the Afghan Peace Volunteers’ (APV) Borderfree Center, here in Kabul, thirty mothers sat cross-legged along the walls of a large meeting room. Masoumah, who co-coordinates the Center’s “Street Kids School” project, had invited the mothers to a parents meeting. Burka-clad women who wore the veil over their faces looked identical to me, but Masoumah called each mother by name, inviting the mothers, one by one, to speak about difficulties they faced.

From inside the netted opening of a burka, we heard soft voices and, sometimes, sheer despair. Others who weren’t wearing burkas also spoke gravely. Their eyes expressed pain and misery, and some quietly wept. Often a woman’s voice would break, and she would have to pause before she could continue:

“I have debts that I cannot pay,” whispered the first woman.

“My children and I are always moving from place to place. I don’t know what will happen.”

“I am afraid we will die in an explosion.”

“My husband is paralyzed and cannot work. We have no money for food, for fuel.”

“My husband is old and sick. We have no medicine.”

“I cannot feed my children.”

“How will we live through the winter?”

“I have pains throughout my whole body.”

“I feel hopeless.”

“I feel depressed, and I am always worried.”

“I feel that I’m losing my mind.”

The mothers’ travails echo across Afghanistan, where “one-third of the population lives below the poverty line (earning less than $2 a day) and a further 50 percent are barely above this.” Much of the suffering voiced was common: most of the women had to support their families as they moved from house to house, not being able to come up with the rent for a more permanent space, and many women experienced severe body pains, often a result of chronic stress.

Last week, our friend Turpekai visited the Borderfree Center and spoke with dismay about her family’s well having gone dry. Later that morning, Inaam, one of the students in the “Street Kids School,” said that his family faces the same problem. Formerly, wells dug to depths of 20 to 30 meters were sufficient to reach the water table. But now, with the water table dropping an average of one meter a year, new wells must be dug to depths of 80 meters or more. Inflowing refugees create increased demands on the water table in times of drought and so do the extravagant water needs of an occupying military, and the world’s largest fortified embassy, that can dig as deep for water as it wants. Families living on less than $2 a day have little wherewithal to dig deep wells or begin paying for water. The water has been lost to war.

Sarah Ball, a nurse from Chicago, arrived in Kabul one week ago. Together we visited the Emergency Surgical Center for Victims of War, feeling acutely grateful for an opportunity to donate blood and hear an update from one of their logistical coordinators about new circumstances they encounter in Kabul.

In past visits to Kabul, staff at the Emergency Hospital would point happily to their volleyball court, the place where they could find diversion and release from tensions inherent in their life saving work. Now, as an average of two “mass casualties” happen each week, often involving many dozens of patients severely injured by war, a triage unit has replaced the volleyball court. Kabul, formerly one of the safest places in Afghanistan, has now become one of the most dangerous.

Masoumah asked each mother a second question: What are you thankful for? The atmosphere became a little less grim as many of the mothers said they were grateful for their children. Beholding the lively, bright and beautiful youngsters who fill the Borderfree Center each Friday, I could well understand their gratitude. The following day, we joined two dozen young girls living in a squalid refugee camp. Crowded into a small makeshift classroom with a mud floor, our friend Nematullah taught a two-hour class focused on forming peace circles. The little girls were radiant, exuberant and eager for better futures. Nematullah later told us that all their families are internally displaced, many because of war.

Zarghuna works full-time to coordinate projects at the Border Free Center. She and Masoumah feel passionately committed to social change which they believe will be organized “from the ground up”. “Small amounts that are given to the people can help change lives and make them a little better,” Zarghuna said.

I feel deeply moved by the commitment my young friends have made to reject wars and dominance, preferring instead to live simply, share resources, and help protect the environment.

Cover Photo: Courtesy of Afghan Peace Volunteers

Can Interfaith Peacebuilding Work? The case of Kaduna, Nigeria

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admin
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Newsreader: Brandon Richardson

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with 185 million people. Its two leading religions are Christianity and Islam, and good relations between followers of these two religions are critical for peace in Nigeria. Communities in Kaduna State, Nigeria, however, have witnessed ethno-religious conflict in recent years, with Muslim-Christian relations severely damaged as a result. But one group is working to mend these divisions.

The Peaceful Revival Foundationof Nigeria has made strides in southern Kaduna, bringing different religious and ethnic factions together.

“Peace Revival, for the past 5 years – 6 years now, has been going to southern Kaduna, trying to talk to people, meeting with traditional rulers, meeting with community leaders, and meeting with ethnic groups and other NGOs, talking to them, trying to source our problem,” said Pastor Yohanna Buru, founder of the Peaceful Revival Foundation.

“The cause of [conflict] is that some feel they are marginalized in southern Kaduna,” Pastor Buru said.

“Mainly most of the Christians there, or the traditionalists there, or the people who claim to be the indigenes of that land,” he said.

“And possibly there’s no proper communication – or relationship – between the powerful in Kaduna and the government of today, or the people of northern Kaduna, so these are the contributing factors.”

Justice is a huge concern in the region, and acts of retaliation have sparked conflict.

“Between the government, society, Muslim or Christian – whatever – there is injustice there,” said Mohammed Abdullahi Gambo, a Fulani Muslim from the region.

“When we have justice, when we have justice there’s no more conflict,” Mr Gambo said.

Pastor Buru and his team encourage resolutions using dialogue and peaceful negotiation.

“We have been able to reach out to some of the traditional rulers in southern Kaduna, and discuss a lot with them, and try to negotiate for a better solution on how to be in peaceful co-existence with each other,” said Maryam Abubakar, a Fulani Muslim working with the foundation.

“To Muslim and Christians, they should sit down and talk, and they should bring in the traditionalists,” Pastor Buru said.

“The moment you sit with the communities there, it has helped in peacebuilding – they open up, they tell you their problems, and maybe they themselves proffer a solution.”

Participant Aliyu Mohammed said the Muslim community hold Pastor Yohanna Buru in high esteem because of his peacebuilding work in the area.

“We believe there is the need for other interfaith groups to emulate him in promoting peaceful co-existence in the area,” Mr Mohammed said.

“He actually understood the terrain very well because he is also from the area and that has helped him in bringing all aggrieved parties on same table to dialogue,” he said.

“Without peace in [this] environment, we can’t go forward, we can’t forge ahead,” said Pastor Joel Vigo, a Christian leader in the area.

“Without peace, you can’t work, or look for something to eat. But when there is peace, life will be ok,” said Pastor Vigo.

“Let us understand one another, so that there will be peaceful co-existence between the traditionalists, the Christian, the Muslim, the youths, and the old,” said Reverend Ishaku, a Christian leader.

People Choosing Peace: Muhammad (Nigeria)

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Peace News Staff
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Muhammad Kabir was 19 years old when the Boko Haram insurgency started surfacing in his home city of Maiduguri in North-Eastern Nigeria. In a movement born from poverty, unemployment, and government oppression, the insurgents only attacked government buildings and the military at first. Most people celebrated their acts and even gave them cover. “I began to think,” Muhammad told Peacemaker 360, “that one day these same people who are celebrating will be hunted and become victims as well.”

It turns out, he was right.

“The Boku Haram insurgency has not only dislocated social and economic activities in these states, but also has resulted in at least 20,000 deaths, the enslavement of thousands of girls and women, the forced conscription of thousands of boys and young men into the insurgency, and at least 2.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs),” Muhammad said.

To combat this situation, Muhammad focuses on changing the narrative around violence. The prevailing story used by Boko Haram and circulated among Nigerian youth is that violence is justified because violence is the only language government leaders will understand. Muhammad works with local, national, and international organizations (including the United Nations Population Fund, the UN Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Youth Network on Countering Violent Extremism, Young Leadership Association of Nigeria, Bulunkutu Abuja Youth Development Association, and Search for Common Ground) to change that narrative. “The new story,” he said, “is that violence cannot be justified, and it has changed the perception of the youth in their various communities and given them the opportunity to be considered and be heard by leaders and other stakeholders.”

The biggest challenge, he says, is reaching fellow youth in remote areas. He does this by partnering with local youth organizations.

“I firmly believe that there is no alternative to peace,” Muhammad said, “and violence can NEVER be justified. We can only have meaningful development when peace and social justice are allowed to reign in our societies.”

Muhammad Kabir is willing to serve as a resource for other activists countering violent extremism, and may be reached by email at mkabir13@gmail.com, on twitter @mkabir13_k, and on Facebook as Muhammad Kabir.

Source: Peacemaker360 /Maija Jespersen.

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