COTABATO CITY, Philippines?Shocked and too scared to cry, Zuhari Abdul watched as his father, then a gun-for-hire, execute a man and get paid a sack of rice. He soon developed hatred toward his father.

When war erupted in 2001, Zuhari?s father pushed his wife and two sons to abandon their shack and join thousands of families in shelter camps in Pikit, North Cotabato.

His father, Abdulkarim, also a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, stayed behind to fight government forces. Zuhari?s hatred deepened.

Eight years later, Zuhari, now 13, puts a smile on his soft, round face, a sign that the harsh past he kept in his heart is gone. The new Zuhari is a strong, matured, and principled man dressed in white polo, khaki pants, and a topi (hat) on his head.

Healthier world

Zuhari, like thousands of other children at J. Marquez School of Peace here, a school applying peace education in its curriculum, says peace is about respect for each other and unity among Christians and Muslims. For him, to rid the region of the violence that has wracked it for decades will make a healthier world for children.

Now in Grade 6, Zuhari?s view of peace is a stark contrast to what he believed in in his early years. ?My fresh perspectives on war and peace, and life in general started here, inside the four corners of a classroom. Here I gained the sense of normalcy,? he said.

In school, Zuhari learned to accept his father?s fate. He kept no grudge in his heart and the bitterness toward his father is replaced with their happy, carefree times together in the marsh, near Pikit, North Cotabato, where they rode the boat to fish.

?I know one day, he?ll renew his faith and live with us in peace. I?ll see him again sometime soon,? Zuhari hopes.

Peace at home

Zuhari tries to apply what he learned from school at home. His mother?s ill feeling toward his father has disappeared. ?We should not just speak peace, but we have to put it in action,? he says.

Zuhari?s two brothers are in the same school, nurturing their young minds in peace-building.

Together, they understand the value of justice and respect in achieving lasting peace. Zuhari has discovered that education leads to change despite the conflicts that abound in the region.

As an offshoot to the signing of peace deal between the government and Moro National Liberation Front in 1996, the J. Marquez School of Peace was born in 1997 to cater to both primary and secondary students. With the blessing of former Department of Education regional director Dr. Estrella Babano, the school and teachers have been seeing changes among children who witnessed the armed struggles in the region.

Chain reaction

The school has since promoted the principles of peace and called on other sectors to crush war and violence through education.

Named after its land donor, Justino Marquez, the school now has a population of 2,062 (1,518 elementary, 544 high school), mostly Muslim students. It has 67 teachers (38 elementary, 29 high school).

?These students have dreams and they offer the key to a culture of peace,? says Agney Taruc, the former principal who pushed the school to be what it is today.

Taruc, the special program coordinator of DepEd in Cotabato City, says while the school sees the value of academics, it is more concerned in shaping children into peace-loving people.

?This method targets everyone?the students, teachers, parents, and the community who pursue education as a way to peace. Everybody learns peace beyond the school system,? Taruc says.

Various initiatives were developed to enrich the peace concepts of teachers, administrators and other sectors using the guidelines of Executive Order No. 570 (Institutionalizing Peace Education in Basic Education and Teacher Education) which calls for lead agencies and partners to make peace education a priority program.

Teachers went through a series of stages to enrich their appreciation of a curriculum on peace.