January 25, 009
Dear Peacemakers and friends,
Greetings of peace and love from Manila!
In the face of the continuing threat to the peace and wellbeing of the suffering people of Mindanao (Philippines) and Gaza we, members of the Sowing Peace network in Metro Manila, turned to one another for support and encouragement. It is easy to lose heart in the midst of the prevailing violence everywhere. Our efforts at peacebuilding seem puny and effete and our words, no matter how forceful and compelling in their condemnation of the violence, seem to only exacerbate our feelings of helplessness and frustration at not being able to stop the war and end the killings.
In the midst of all these, we have taken recourse to returning to our selves to seek and find that which we have in our power to harness—our human spirit and our capacity to build relationships. So, while holding images of the maimed, dead and dying in our hearts, we stepped-up our efforts to build--and to keep on building--relations hips in places near and dear to us.
Last Thursday, in the midst of the heat and the din of the mid-day traffic, twenty-four Muslims and Christians (of various denominations) successfully completed the last of the 12-session series of workshops on *GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP TRAINING ON MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE* in Quiapo (that they started in June 2008). This was a capacity-building program that our Peacemakers' Circle CC designed and launched in partnership with the *Australian
Embassy's Strengthening Grassroots Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding
(SGIDU) program*.
The workshop was held at the Golden Mosque compound in the heart of Quiapo, Manila. Quiapo is one of the four grassroots Muslim-Christian communities that the Peacemakers' Circle CC is currently serving under the mantle of the *URI Moral Imagination Program* and in keeping with the spirit of the *URI Preamble, Purpose & Principles (PPP)*. The other communities are Tala in Caloocan City, Maharlika Village in Taguig City, and Salam Compound in Culiat, Quezon City. Metro Manila is composed of 14 cities and two municipalities and the Muslim population in the metropolis is said to now total over 1.5 million.
What was heartwarming about that whole-day training in Quiapo last Thursday was *the willingness of the Muslim and the Christian participants to see goodness in each other--and in each other's faith*--*and to recognize and accept their own respective human frailties and imperfections that got in the way of the true practice of their own faith*. It was moving to hear a
passionate Muslim leader lament what he perceived to be disunity among Muslims and the inability of the Arab nations to take prompt action in aid of the suffering in Gaza. It was likewise moving to hear a passionate Christian leader speak of the fear among Christians that disabled them from responding to the challenge to love their neighbors as themselves.
At the end of the day, the Muslim and Christian participants of the workshop agreed to unite and form a MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS' ASSOCIATION OF QUIAPO. *They said that* *they may not be able to stop the war in Mindanao or in Gaza but they could contribute to peace in the world by strengthening their friendships and working together to collectively address their local concerns.* They chose their leaders and scheduled another meeting for next Thursday to discuss ways forward in promoting their cause. In the midst of all these developments, our Peacemakers' Circle CC reiterated its commitment to accompany and support them in their journey. We have been doing the same for the MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS' ASSOCIATION OF TALA in Caloocan City since 2005.
Much work for peace is being done on the ground here. We continue to strengthen our relationships with the women leaders of various organizations that compose the *Sowing Peace network*. Some of the members of the network are: Balay Rehabilitation Center, GZO Peace Institute, Center for Peace Education of Miriam College, Binhi, Bethlehem Mission, etc. Last Wednesday we got together over potluck lunch to renew our commitment to support each
other in the pursuit of peace in our country and the world. Each of us presented the various projects that our respective organizations had lined up for the year and expressed ways in which we could support those projects.
One that is up and coming is the visit this Wednesday of *Maria Christina Eggers from the Katharina Werk Organization (KTW).* Maria Christina is a long-time leader of KTW who has been in-charge of organizing the annual International Peace Camp in Switzerland. For the past seven years the Peace Camp brought together Israelis and Palestinians and people from other
countries.
What I find really interesting about Maria Christina is the fact that *she is German and a descendant of a Nazi soldier*. The painful history and the stigma that she and her people carried over the years moved her to dedicate her life to building peace in the world. *She sees the war in the Middle East partly as a result of the terrible violence done by the Germans to the Jews during World War II and is now atoning for it by helping to build bridges of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. * She now lives in Jerusalem where she has established "Beit Catarina", a center that offers a safe space for meditation, dialogue, peacebuilding workshops and friendly
encounters between Israelis and Palestinians who seek to find an end to the violence in that part of the world. *She also visits and accompanies groups from both sides who are trying to build paths to peace*. She was in Jerusalem when the recent violence in Gaza broke out.
Our Peacemakers' Circle CC will be hosting a dialogue session with Maria Christina on January 28. Her visit is being facilitated by Angelina Herrera of BINHI (Seed) organization, and organized by the remarkable women leaders of the Sowing Peace network. We look forward to hearing *how this descendant of a Nazi soldier is helping to heal wounds and build peace between Israelis
and Palestinians. * We also hope to explore *ideas* with her *on* *how to help our war-ravaged people in Mindanao return to healing and wholeness once again.*
On Thursday, I will be giving a workshop-seminar on "*Religion Beyond Borders: Christian-Muslim Relations*" to a group of about 80 college students of a Jesuit university here. I hope to be able to inspire them to participate in the *global effort to transcend boundaries while being rooted in the effort of peacefully and respectfully addressing our differences. *
The road to peace is long and difficult. We need to be patient and kind to ourselves and take time to listen to each other. There are "miles to go before we sleep." Meantime, we at the Peacemakers' Circle CC continue to come together regularly every Tuesday (for our *weekly Inner Work Support Circle*) to pray for the victims of war in Gaza, Mindanao, Zimbabwe and
elsewhere in the world, and for peace, justice and healing to come about in our midst.
Thank you for your patience and kind attention. May Peace Prevail on Earth!
Sincerely,
Marites G. Africa
The Peacemakers' Circle CC
Manila, Philippines
