Peacemakers' Circle main projects at latter half of 2010

1. The Peacemakers' Circle organized and hosted the workshop-forum on Consulting the People: PEOPLE'S AGENDA FOR PEACE IN MINDANAO at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) last June 21 (Monday). This project was funded by The Asia Foundation. It had Fr. Albert Alejo SJ (and his team from KONSULT MINDANAW) present the results of the series of grassroots consultations--conducted among Muslims, Christians and Indigenous Peoples (or Lumads)--that were held all over Mindanao for the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) in 2008. The whole-day workshop-forum yielded inspiring feedback (from the 80 participants representing various sectors of society in MIndanao and the National Capital Region) on how to move the dialogue initiative forward so that it will serve as a guide for the crafting of a peace agenda by the new Philippine President-elect Aquino.

2. On June 15 (Tuesday), The Peacemakers' Circle conducted the first of the series of 20 workshop-sessions for 16 grassroots Muslim and Christian leaders of the communities of Quiapo, Maharlika Village, Culiat and Tala. This was under the Australian Embassy's Strengthening Grassroots Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding (SGIDU) Program. This is The Peacemakers' Circle's 3rd project funded by SGIDU in 3 years. This project is entitled STRENGTHENING MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN PARTNERSHIPS IN GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY-BUILDING, and it aims to develop the community leaders' capacities to inspire the members of their respective communities, supervise and help ensure that the projects they decide to collective undertake (to meet the needs of their respective communities) will succeed. The workshops will be conducted twice a month for 10 months until March 2011.

3. Another project that has been launched recently by The Peacemakers' Circle is the Catholic INTRA-Faith Dialogue Module-Writing Workshop and Consultation Project funded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). This is geared towards helping to prepare Catholics for Interfaith Dialogue, particularly focusing on promoting awareness among Catholics of the need to reconcile and heal relationships with Muslims and other people of faith in the Philippines. The writing of the first draft of the training modules is underway, and the first consultation with a select group of religous, clergy and laity is scheduled on July 7 and 8. Part of the consultation meeting will be held at the Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila University, through the support of Fr. Antonio de Castro SJ, and the approval of Fr. Mario Francisco SJ (President of LST). This is in partenrship with the Episcopal Commission on Interreligous Dialogue (ECID), and this will run until November of this year. It is hoped that the training modules will be conducted in the various parishes and grassroots communities around the country where Muslims and Christians live together as neighbors.

Reaching Out & Bending Over Backwards for Peace

Muslim and Christian youths in the grassroots communities of Tala in Caloocan and Culiat in Quezon City have been getting together in their respective communities since October to participate in the "STRENGTHENING INTERFAITH YOUTH LEADERSHIP" Program of The Peacemakers' Circle.

The young leaders have been reaching out to one another in the spirit of fun and friendship in a 10-session creative peacebuilding workshop designed by Orlan de Guzman and Sharon Vaswani which Orlan is currently conducting with Alan Berguia, a young Muslim Community Coordinator of The Peacemakersâ Circle in Metro Manila.

This training program is part of the interfaith peace- and relationship-building work of The Peacemakers' Circle, and is being conducted in partnership with the United Religions Initiative (URI) in Southeast Asia-Pacific with funds from the URI Bowes Award that was granted to The Peacemakers' Circle in 2008 for this project.

Around thirty to forty Muslim and Christian youths (ages thirteen to twenty-five) from each of the grassroots communities of Culiat and Tala get together in their respective communities each week to sit in a circle and engage in inner work and self-awareness exercises that promote dialogue and heart listening for Muslim-Christian relationship-building. They reach out beyond their comfort zones to get to know each other, create a safe space and common ground where they can honor and respect each other's differences (while appreciating what they have in common), and bend over backwards in physical, mental and spiritual exercises that enable them to center themselves on the ways of peace.

The weekly three-hour sessions are looked forward to with much anticipation and joy by everyone involved in this project--the youth leaders as well as their elders--who take pride in being part of a transformative force for good in their community. They are working hand-in-hand in the community in support of each other's endeavors for peace.

It is with much hope that we at The Peacemakers' Circle carry on in this journey along the path of peace in the company of these inspiring young Muslim and Christian grassroots leaders who are well on their way to becoming a growing force for unity in diversity and harmony in our midst.

May our tribe increase, and may the Force be with us always!

-- Marites Africa (Nov. 15, 2010)

In the photos (top to bottom)--

1 & 2. L-R : Reaching out, bending over backwards in "Stillness in Motion"

3. L-R: Alan, Orlan, and Edmark (youth leader)

4. Members of the MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN YOUTH FOR PEACE &DEVELOPMENT of Tala

5 to 8: Muslim and Christian youth leaders in action together

Faith, Freedom and Free Will

On October 26, 2010 (Tuesday)

The Peacemakers' Circle held an OPEN EVENING

of conversation and interfaith dialogue on

FAITH, FREEDOM, & FREE-WILL

Featuring faith sharers from the Hindu, Buddhist, Islam, and Christian Faith

The panel of speakers consisted of:

Ms. Marites Africa (founder/executive director of The Peacemakers' Circle Foundation, Inc.) who shared her views as a Christian

Mr. Emre Serbetci (Nur Factory & Dela Salle University) who share from the Islamic perspective

Dr. Shakuntala Vaswani (United Religions Initiative SEAP & The Peacemakers' Circle) who shared from the Hindu perspective

and a special visiting guest

Dr. Swee-Hin Toh (Peace Education Laureate from the University for Peace - Costa Rica) who shared his views as a Buddhist