The Web of Peace

The web that shows our connections to one another
(Kibera Slum, Nairobi Kenya 2013)

It is astonishing to me how when we share an experience, a techniques, a story, or ourselves with someone, it can have a ripple effect that spreads far and wide. Such is the nature of peace-building.

Recently I presented my research at the International Peace Research Conference in Istanbul - you can have a look at that on my last post. What I wrote for publication and how I present my research findings are so different. When presenting I get caught up in the experiences I have had and tend to omit the references and academic jargon that is so appropriate for academic paper.

While I was at the conference, to show how we are all connected I led an activity in which we created a web - different strands of coloured raffia, held by individuals who shared their narrative and found connections with one another.  I had used this method in Kenya, both as a means of intercultural communication and to build relationships and communities that had been severed because of conflict and violence. Although I personalized the technique, I was originally been inspired to use such a technique through the work of Jennifer Ball and Carolyn Webb.

Rebecca Rovitt, Associate Professor in Theatre at University of Kansas Lawrence complimented me by using this interactive tool during her first meeting with theatre students Script Analysis class.

Kibera Women peacebuilders

Yesterday I ran my first workshop with seven women who had suffered during the 2007 post-election violence. Hosted at the Kenyan office of Interchange, the women arrived at 8:30 and remained until 3pm when they had to pick their children up from school. They are doing a lot to build peace in their homes and in their communities in the hopes of avoiding a repeat in the coming weeks. I asked them to consider what their idea of peace was, how they knew when there is peace in their homes/community and what they do individually to promote peace within their community. They wrote their answers on pieces of paper and placed them in a basket for discussion later.

We spent the day together, talking about their experiences, the concept of peace and what is means to them individually and what they are doing in their homes and communities to promote peace. We worked on a group project that reflected their perceptions of their community before 2007, during the violence of 2007/08, what things had changed from 2008 - 2012 (perhaps the calm before the election of 2013 when they feel tribal tensions are rising again) and their hopes and dreams for the future after the election.  These women are all from different tribes, had never met before and are courageous! They worked as a group and individually.

Using Lederach's concept of Expanded Framework for Peacebuilding we considered re-storying the past and "the past that lies before us" and explored the break in their personal narratives brought on by the post-election violence. (The felt model of the framework is by Jaqui Jesso, Interchange)

At the end of the day, I supplied them with pieces of white cotton, fabric markers and embroidery thread and they were invited to re-explore the concept of peace and to create something that symbolized either the stories that they shared earlier in the day, or reflected peace in some way.  They decided they would take these individual works home with them and they said they would put them on the walls of their Kibera homes.

Peacebuilding takes all forms

A couple of days ago I took a half day safari being driven into the Samburu Game Park by Tom Lolisoli, son of Rebecca Lolisoli who is running for parliament here - a daring thing to do in such a patriarchal country . . . but that is another story that I will tell later.

As we entered the park we were told about a lion who had attacked a calf just on the edge of the park. The pastoralist was bringing the cattle back to his land after taking them to graze near the park. The conservationists were able to track the lion and shoot it with a dart to put it to sleep. They then moved it to a different location and placed beside it a recently killed gazelle (it had been badly injured and would not have survived so the conservationist euthanized it). When the lion woke up it was able to feast on the beast. The calf was fine as the lion had been scared off in time and the pastoralist could continue to care for his livestock.

In this instance the story ends well for all parties. The calf is alive and well, which makes the pastoralist happy; the lion is well fed and relocated; the conservationist has been able to maintain the balance between man and and the wild. But often times this is not the case. In many instances - when an elephant attacks a farm for instance - the farmer may shoot the elephant which upsets the conservationist.

These lionesses are full after devouring an injured elephant, but that is wild against wild and therefore no conflict. By the way, these lionesses were helped by 21 crocodiles who took their turn and cautiously tore pieces off the elephant when the lionesses were distracted by their own eating.

Another instance in which conflict can arise is when women go to the river to fetch water. Often they have been attacked by crocodiles and in some cases, if accompanied by men, the crocodile will be shot. Many organizations now build water tanks in villages in order to save the women and crocodiles. Here one of the women in Umoja village carries a 25 kilo pail of water back to her village. Although a ways from the village, she can gather fresh water that is clean enough to drink.

So the question is . . Is the conflict between man and animal or is it between the pastoralist and the conservationist?  There are increasing instances in Kenya and Uganda where peacebulding techniques are used to resolve conflict between the pastorialist and conservationist, between man and nature.