The name of my project was chosen while I was looking for phrases about Peace, Education, Learning, Values. When that phrase came up I just loved it, and the fact that it’s anonymous makes it more special, because it’s something that anyone could have said, not just an important peace researcher or president of a peace organization. Added to that, it’s totally true. The best gift to the world is Peace! Peace brings within many values, all of them together will help the world in many aspects, environmental, political, social and culturally.
At first I thought of CISV as the main topic of my work, but after a training weekend I got the chance to read Mosquito Tactics, this book talked about the things that I wanted to research. So basically I used it as a guide while writing and as an example. Actually it was the one that helped me with my first step, the hypothesis: Through Peace education we can become agents of change who promote a positive Peace in order to create a Culture of Peace.
People living in Peace with themselves and the things around them will have respect for others too. Relations between countries will be nicer, and conflicts more pleasant to resolve. I know, this is a fantasy, but it is my fantasy and I wish it would come true. At least I’ll try to.
After this dedicated weeks of research I’m able to confirm my hypothesis. The way to achieve Peace is effectively through Peace Education. Being education the process that starts with the family and continues in school and other social environments. Of course, there are certain factors that help reach peace, such as justice and a scale of values. That is why I think that it is very important to act as models to create a Culture of Peace.
To prove my hypothesis I created a project based on what I worked on. I understood that a lot could be done on a local level. It is based on 6 encounters, each of them working on different values which I think essential to reach Peace.
I feel I grew with this Seminar. I already had a formed idea of what I believed in, thanks to CISV. I believed that Peace Education is the best way to achieve Peace and I still think it is, and I can prove it. I had the chance to interview many specialists in the aspect, who agreed with my hypothesis. I discovered many organizations that worked for peace. I met people who work for a more peaceful world, and I realized I was not alone. I always new I was not alone, but this time I actually realized that the people who are working for Peace are many, and that we actually can make a big change, and have a huge impact.
Thanks to my investigation I got to research on this theme that it’s a part of my life and our world. I felt so powerful being able to talk to really important people in this aspect, which had their own view, and ideas formed as well. Now I can see that what I really wanted from my project was to reach others and make them join this Peace movement. And I think I achieved that unconscious goal, for I’m taking some friends to some courses to work for inner Peace. I have a deeper comprehension of what the values mean for our lives now. I understood that we are actually passing through a values’ crisis. And I know how I can get out of it, and I’ll try to take as many people I can with me.
I learned that even though there are plenty of Peace enemies, if we all walk together we can create Peace out of our attitudes, skills, and knowledge.
Kay Blanchard
