mirik-darjeeling 2008with some friends, by a small lake in mirik-darjeeling. some thoughts that emerged at a conflict transformation workshop which brought us together:
"peace building needs to apply human intelligence, intellectual honesty, and courage in defending hard won rights, entitlements and freedoms. economic, social, cultural, civil and political life are areas in which people need to experience justice."
"we need to move away from 'forgive and forget' mode to 'remember, take responsibility, transform, and reconcile'. we also need to move from being conscious of doing no harm to 'doing the right thing'. yes, we may not always be clear what the right thing is. but trusting a respectful and participatory process that is inclusive and embraces consensus building as preferred method of arriving at decisions does have potential to effect positive changes."
"practice and scholarship need to supplement. the age of dispassionate observers is over. we are all part of the problem and hence be part of the solution too."
"fear of talking about identity issues is certainly a big block to peace building processes."
"it is good to constantly check which projects gave the vocabulary we are using in the peace field, what those words meant to the sectors that began using them. it is also good to see which words are co-opted and diluted to mean almost anything."
"love and grace - still have place in peace work. so don't lose hope."
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