“I left plates on the table and everything else including the house”.  These are the words of a community member explaining to the Service For Peace (SFP) team her escape from the flooding that engulfed their community following the building of a sewer.

The community in this case is La Rapressa in the Dominican Republic. A group of SFP team members together with international volunteer participants had arrived in this community to implement one of SFP’s programs — the Global PeaceMakers (GPM). It was already clear what the task at hand was — to find a solution that would bring to an end the flooding ensuring that the community had their homes safe again.

Twelve days is what it took to make a difference. During this period, the GPM participants together with community members joined together lifting blocks of stone and placing them together to construct what is now a levee along a section of the community. Through this form of focused service that the GPM provides, the community was left feeling safe again that when the rainy season arrived, they would have nothing to fear as they would have their houses safe from the floods.

And well, they say ‘a picture (or a video) is worth a thousand words’. How can we best relay the GPM story other than sharing the experience through this video taken during the construction of the levee in the community of La Rapressa?

Service For Peace has been working in the community of La Rapressa starting in 2006 and has built a model school, in addition to a multi-purpose sports court. And while the organization has largely had a focus on education as the key factor in driving development, thus, the focus on building model schools, the organization also recognizes the need for interventions that enhance the development process. In the same way, a school feeding program serves as an intervention in enhancing the learning goals, the construction of the Levee was an urgent problem that was on the minds of the community residents in La Rapressa and having solved that increased greater trust in having SFP as a partner in development in this community.

We hope this highlight connects you to the GPM experience. We would like to hear your feedback, which you can provide based on (but not limited to) the questions below.

• What are your thoughts about the Global PeaceMakers Program?
• Did you ever think that 12 days or 2 weeks of your life could have significant impact for a developing community? And would you consider being part of such a program? If so, what would motivate you to join the program?

To learn more about the Global PeaceMakers program, please visit serviceforpeace.org or write to Janna Gullery at jgullery@serviceforpeace.org.

By Becky Gitonga

Despite the number of interventions done to promote empowerment through basic human rights, women are still suffering from inequities around the world. The role of women in our society is crucial and we must continue to empower them. Without them development will never occur. I met two women who defied cultural limitations, finding ways to empower fellow women and the community as a whole. It is timely that I share with you a story I learned when I traveled to the conflict-stricken part of my country, Mindanao Philippines.

The Philippines is a country of 7,101 islands and 171 dialects, which means that language barriers and communication are still big issues. Adding to that, this highly conservative Christian realm sometimes hinders the implementation of laws and policies benefiting women and reproduction. Poverty and illiteracy continue to rise. The gap between the rich and the poor is wider than ever. As the case gets worse, the heaviest burden is carried by the most vulnerable members of the population, the women and children.

In Philippine history, insurgency in Mindanao has been a perennial problem. The majority of people have stereotyped Muslims as leftists. This prejudiced attitude and uncritical judgement exacerbate the problems and create unhealthy relations with fellow Filipinos. In the northern part of the bustling city of Davao, a small rural community of Christians and Muslims thrives. La Paz National High School is headed by a very dynamic school principal. She is Mrs. Navarro, a school head, community leader and cooperative president rolled into one.  La Paz Community has 445 families with a population of 2,225 people. About 35 % are Muslims, 8% Samalnon and Mansaca tribes, and the rest, the majority, are Christians. People rely on agriculture and fishing for livelihood. Another source for income is peeling the Cavendish bananas that are sold to ketchup-making factories. As in many other communities, resources are scarce and incomes vary. With the partnership of Global Peace Connect! and Global Peace Festival Foundation, a sustainable Community-Driven Development (CDD) project flourishes in this promising community. The profits are divided among the stake holders, and help parents send their children to school. Community cooperation and cohesiveness increase while livelihoods and incomes become steady. The people develop an entrepreneurial drive accompanied with working hand in hand with community members. The sense of unity and camaraderie flourishes. Mrs. Navarro, tireless and enthusiastic, continues to encourage more village constituents to join the cooperative and send their children to school.

I met Lariben Taraboc, a student leader at La Paz National High School. She is one of the beneficiaries of the cooperative program mentioned. Despite being a Muslim girl in a community dominated by Christians, she has very well exemplified the makings of a true leader. She has harmonious relationships to her mentors, classmates, and neighbors amidst differences in political and religious affiliations. She believes that we only have one God, that we are all brothers and sisters.

Today, more youths go to school and the cooperative continues to prosper. This community of 445 families is promising. If we could do it here, we can do it in the 7,100 other Philippine islands and beyond, with people working together regardless of color, race, or religion. Communities prosper when there is unity and a sense of responsibility with each other.

Mrs. Navarro and Lariben are two great examples of women who transcend limitations in the roles set by culture and people around them. How they catalyzed more people to act and be active contributors and be part of the solution to the many problems encountered is noteworthy. They organized a society that respects differences, where Christians and Muslims work together for a better future. Peace is an integral part of achieving development and women possess this special ability. It is therefore concluded that if we long for development, women’s empowerment must be a priority. I think the key is for women not to set any limits.

By Erick Brocoy, twitter: @erickbrocoy  / @GPConnectAsia

In an earlier article, I shared some of the community driven development initiatives from Nepal that were highlights during the Global Peace Convention that was held in Seoul, Korea in November (2011).

Among the initiatives shared by Saroj Khanal (Service For Peace Executive Director in Nepal), I was very much inspired by the story about women that finally had the opportunity to join a literacy class that taught them to read and write Nepali. The women in this case are not teen girls or women in their 20’s, most of these are women in the late thirties and forties. For these women going to school was not an option while growing up. Traditionally, the girls did not have the privilege of going to school. It was more expected for them to stay home and help with house-hold chores, eventually would get married, have children and take care of their families.

What this means is that a majority of the women in Nepal never had the opportunity to be educated. In the case of Nepal, women take on double shifts — taking on household chores and working in the fields — but have minimal participation in decision-making. Besides that, many of them experience difficulty getting along their normal days when they have to join communal places and expected to interact with others.

One woman shared an experience of having been on a bus and taking a seat only to have someone ask her to vacate. What she didn’t know was that each of the seats was usually marked for the riders. Such an experience left her feeling ashamed and with lots of guilt about her life. And for many of these women, the dream and the desire to be able to read and write was something that remained with them through their years.

So when Service For Peace began the literacy class, it did not matter what age they were; they were just glad to finally have an opportunity to read and write.

The impact of the literacy class for these women is best depicted in the effort they initiated following their participation in the literacy class — the effort to reach out to their fellow women sharing with them the experience of learning and finding ways to get them to join the class. Below I highlight some of those efforts:

Volunteering to bring books to villages

In one of the slides shared by Saroj , we see some pictures of women on bicycles with a container on the back written ‘Service For Peace’ on one side and on another ‘Mobile Library’.

Listening to Saroj, we learn that these women volunteer to ride the mobile libraries into the community once a week. Having established that many of the women were having difficulty taking the trip to go read or borrow books from the stationed libraries (Service For Peace has also initiated mini libraries within the community), some of the women volunteered to be bringing books to the villages. Service For Peace through partners was able to supply six bicycles with boxes that carry about 50 books, out of which 60 books are borrowed per week.

A testimonial shared by two of the women who took the class stated:

“I now know the value of education. I am glad to ride the bicycle to bring books to the villages. The praise and encouragement that I get from doing this is so motivating. And through the class, I have benefited from a goat scholarship that has become my income source and also provides milk (protein) for my family.”  —Tara Magar, 35 years

“I joined the literacy school and studied for 3 months. I got free books through the mobile library. I am now able to read and write in Nepali. I feel I can see the world now. I have experienced the difference between my illiterate life and now. Now I know how to treat my children. I know the power of hygiene. I now have self respect. I don’t have to be humiliated in front of people. I can now count and read for myself”.  — Sita Kyapchaki, 37 years old

A Letter and One Rupee

In addition to the mobile libraries initiative, the women also began an effort that was another testament of the empowerment of the literacy class. On one part, was a genuine motivation to reach out to their fellow women to encourage them to join the class; they did this by writing a letter to their women neighbors and others that they knew in the community. The writing of the letter was also a way for them to practice what they had learnt (reading and writing in Nepali). In the letter the women would share their experience having been part of the class and also on the opportunities that were opening up based on their ability to read and write. For those that were doing well in class, they could now be given an opportunity to work with Service For Peace for some hours and they could make some little money. As part of this noble effort to share with their fellow women and impart their experiences, the women also began the ‘one rupee’ initiative, where they now give one rupee and to rally others within the community to give one rupee in order for more women to join the class.

In some of the cases when the women would write the letters to their fellow women, they would include one rupee as a way to extend the invitation for the women to consider joining the class.

The dream of wearing a uniform

And just when I had thought I had heard the last of these very self-driven efforts, we learned that the women also came together one day and decided to make uniforms.  Saroj was himself one day surprised when he visited the class and found the women in uniform. When he asked who requested them to make uniforms, the women shared of a desire they always had to wear school if they had been part of a school. Now that they were in a school, they joined effort to make their uniforms.

Not only was all this very inspiring for me but was a true testament of true empowerment and true ownership! And no doubt it was clear that for many of the women, the literacy class had given them a new lease of life and an affirmation that anything is achievable.

Over the past three years, about 571 women have been part of the literacy class that was initiated by Service For Peace in Nepal.

By Becky Gitonga