Educator tells youth: Peace is in your hands
An educator told participants of a boot camp on peace that the youth can help achieve peace by overcoming hatred or antipathy.
“Peace is in your hands. Each day, throughout the world, people are killed or hurt because of hate as they differ from the rest in terms of ethnicity, religion, sex, ideology, gender, and class, among others,” Miriam College Center for Peace Education Executive Director Jasmin Nario–Galace said during the “MasterPEACE boot camp” held this week.
During the workshop, Teach Peace Build Peace founder Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman also emphasized how, in the face of conflict, having a broader understanding of one’s self and of others can lead to lasting peace.
“In proactive peacebuilding, we have to deeply understand ourselves and others. In reality, conflict is a natural thing,” said Sumndad-Usman.
She warned against misunderstanding and misinformation, which can breed conflicts in beliefs, biases and prejudices.
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A workshop participant also pointed to stereotyping, particularly among the Bangsamoro people, as a hindrance to peace.
“Many people don’t know yet the root of the conflicts. Many people don’t know yet who the Bangsamoro people are. Because of the lack of education or the lack of awareness, there is stereotyping,” Jamil Adiong, a student from the University of San Carlos, said during the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)-organized boot camp.
Adiong added that people have a notion that “Moro people are dangerous.”
OPAPP Undersecretary Jose Lorena expressed hope that the Bangsamoro Basic Law would be passed,
saying that “the need to have a convergence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front through the BBL would mean the establishing of Bangsamoro area as one region”.
The “MasterPEACE boot camp” featured different lecturers involved in the peace process. A total of 70 participants, aged 18-25, from across the country attended the boot camp. Love Joyce Umbay, Gwen Stephanie Calabucal, Aljon Tugaoen, INQUIRER.net trainees/CDG
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