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Planting Peace


 

What is Planting Peace?


Planting Peace is a brand new peace builder training initiative in Alberta.  We are inviting Gopar Tapkida and Sane Suleiman (who work for an MCC partner organization promoting peace between the Christian and Muslim populations in Nigeria, Africa) to Alberta.  They, along with eight international young adults (from Uganda, Colombia, Israel & Palestine), will be leading our peace builder training from August 22- September 2.   The training will include a week at Camp Valaqua from August 22- 27, where Gopar and Sane will be the chaplains (register at www.campvalaqua.com), followed by a four days of workshops in Calgary at the FCJ Christian Life Centre.  

 

Where: FCJ Christian Life Centre 219 - 19 Ave SW Calgary, AB

When: August 29 to September 2, 2010


If you have more questions about Planting Peace contact Kari Enns or Kim Thiessen or call the MCCA office toll-free at 1-888-622-6337.


What do we hope to accomplish?


MCC people and partners support and engage in amazing Peace building work, all over the world. Our hope in Alberta is that Planting Peace contributes to that broad and creative and God-given work


We hope  that the young adults involved in Planting Peace ( some from Alberta that are not so young anymore) will find ways to be together, to plan together, to talk about each others' conflict areas, to find the good in each other and in that way, to be able to return to each of their home communities, better equipped and more encouraged to think and act as if Peace Making is in fact a really urgent way of living that applies to Mennonites, and to Presbyterians, and to Christians, and to Jews, and to Muslims and to every human being that participates in any way in a community, in a family, in a country, in a culture, in a relationship.


Click here to read the bios and reflections of the Planting Peace participants


 


Planting Peace Updates


At Camp Valaqua

 Planting Peace Participants

 

Yesterday, the participants began to arrive. Daniel and Alejandra from Colombia, Rosemary and Dianna from Uganda. Diana had missed her flight early on, and they arrived separately. But after thinking we had lost Rosemary in Brussels or in Montreal, she found us in the airport. We had walked past each other at least 3 or 4 times. (First lesson in any Peace Seminar maybe... figure out how to make contact. But don't go home if it doesn't happen right away. ) Usama from Palestine. Sharon and Aylam from Israel. Nicolas from East Jerusalem. (These three were supposed to be on a 9:40 pm flight, but weren't. Some anxiety there. They arrived one hour later on another flight. Luckily, we were still there, hoping they were somewhere in the airport.


 During week one, the group will interact with 40 campers and the counsellors and staff from all over Alberta, at Camp Valaqua, an hour north of Calgary. Next weekend, a public event in Calgary, and then we move into the FCJ Center here in Calgary for 3 and a half days where we will be joined about 20 young adults from Alberta and Saskatchewan, plus Daniel and Esther from MB, and some other local Alberta people including a number of MCC Alberta Peace Team and other staff, and two IVEPers, from Jordan and the Dominican Republic. 


As they began to arrive yesterday, amidst the confusion and tension of hoping everyone will arrive, it became more and more obvious that having people who in every case, do not actually know the other person from their own country even, nor anyone else who has come, is going to turn into a challenging and delightful (we hope) learning experience of "being together".  We saw a hopeful sign of this the first night at the FCJ Centre, when Alejandra and Dina (Alejandra speaks almost no English .... less than 1% she says) walked down the hallway, arm in arm… already "talking" with each other. 


Peace in this world and in our communities is possible. It is God's wish. It is our need. It always leads to the possibilities of rebuilding. It always has the participation of the Holy Spirit in his "accidental ways".   And it seems to have so much to do with finding ways, and pursuing them, as Dina and Alejandra did in less than two hours, of communicating, and being together.


Abe Janzen


       


Click the thumbnails above to view larger images

 


At the FCJ Centre


 


We left Camp Valaqua on Friday evening and took the participants to the FCJ Centre, where they welcomed the running water, electricity and warm beds with open arms. We were all tired from the week, but along with the fatigue was an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the experience and involvement with Valaqua staff and campers. The Planting Peace participants went out of their way to get to know and spend time with some difficult campers during camp activities, and provided a much needed distraction and support for the staff. Their involvement, spirit, kindness, enthusiasm and stories during the week was infectious. We were worried that the presence of 10 international people would be more of a distraction than it would be helpful. But that was not the case. We are very grateful for the partnership with Camp Valaqua, and excited that they are interested in doing this again next year!


    


On Sunday we began round two of Planting Peace at the FCJ Centre in Calgary. Along with the 10 international participants, there are 20 Alberta participants, 3 folks from Saskatchewan and 2 from Manitoba, along with 6 MCCA staff. It was a good evening, beginning with welcomes and registration at 8:00pm, and moving into introductions, games, walking through the schedule for the next three days. Gopar and Sani led us through a helpful introduction of what to expect from the sessions, and to close the evening Sani led us in a song about peace, and Gopar closed with prayer. We have three days left together. It is too short. We are getting to know amazing individuals whose experiences and lives offer us rich and difficult glimpses into their lives and the conflicts and barriers that they are confronted with daily. The theme continues to be "How do we stop killing each other", with sub themes for each of 6 sessions. Monday: "Listening, and "Speaking/Intervention". Tuesday: "Cross Cultural Dynamics" both sessions. Wednesday: "Understanding", and "Forgiveness".  


 Some snapshots from the past days:


 -two young women, one from Jordan, one from Colombia, who do not speak the same language, walk arm in arm on day one, and communicate acceptance and understanding that transcends culture and language


 -a young woman who had never in her life encountered a "pure Israeli", as she put it, was visibly upset and unsettled by the presence of the Israeli's


 -the same young woman, two days later, was laughing and enjoying spending time with the two Israeli participants


 -an Israeli young man, a vegan, who was having difficulty watching the consumption of animal foods at Camp Valaqua, admits that he is also finding it difficult to confront this issue because he is being treated with so much kindness and acceptance


 -two Palestinian participants whose lives and experiences are very different in terms of access to basic resources....health, education, travel, safety. One lives in East Jerusalem, the other in Bethlehem (West Bank). They share a common history of oppression, but live in two very different worlds. One week before coming to Calgary, the one who lives in the West Bank was in danger of being arrested for his work at an NGO. At 2:00 AM, Israeli military banged on the door of his family home and demanded to see him. His father, a human rights lawyer, met them at the door and challenged their presence. It took some convincing and a phone call to their superior before the officers left the house without him.  


 -on Friday, I left camp with five international visitors in a separate vehicle from my husband; before leaving I asked him to pick up some groceries on the way home. An hour and a bit later, when we arrive in Calgary, a participant asks me why my husband has not called me to make sure that I am ok. I do not know how to answer his question. He said that in the West Bank, if he were married, he would call his wife every few minutes on her cell phone to make sure that she was safe. The assumption of safety, basic safety, is something that I totally take for granted.


-watching the international participants interact with the Canadian participants...what a very rich evening. There was so much laughter and visiting and mixing. Peace building is relational. What a blessing it is to be a part of this.


-Kim Thiessen