A workshop that teaches you to be peaceful

Give peace a chance at a three-day residential workshop this June, organised by a collective called Citizens for Peace

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." Albert Einstein

This simple truth seems to have been lost in all the brouhaha over the war on terror and blame politics. This essential understanding that Einstein speaks of is what PEACEWARDS, a workshop on the theme of peace and living with differences will address. Scheduled to be held between June 26 and 28 by Mumbai-based collective Citizens for Peace (CfP), the three-day residential workshop is open to all citizens. It will be especially valuable to educators, teachers, students, activists working in slums, women's and neighbourhood groups.

"We all want peace. Yet our most sincere efforts have failed to provide concrete, sustainable results. We have seen how easily people are manipulated to become violent against 'the other'," says Gulan Kripalani, executive director, CfP. Some of the key challenges that face us today are how we can work towards a society that values non-violence as a fundamental condition for change; where there is a commitment to explore different ways of working together to find innovative resolutions to contentious issues. "PEACEWARDS is a major step in this direction," she says.

CFP is a non-political organisation that was formed in response to the violence that ravaged Mumbai in 1992-93. The organisation is trying to explore ways to settle differences between people through open dialogue and respect for the rule of law.u00a0

"Through a series of semi-structured experiences, participants will powerfully commit to a new future, based on their life. It is based on the recognition that we can influence the flow of events and thus create new futures individually and collectively," writes the facilitator, Dr Monica Sharma via email from New York. Sharma is director of Leadership and Capacity Development at the United Nations. She has served in UNICEF in several global, regional and country positions. From 2000-2005 she served as director of HIV/AIDS for UNDP, generating over 720 breakthrough initiatives with measurable results in 40 countries, reaching 4.5 million people directly.u00a0

But why conduct a workshop on peace? "Dr Sharma conducted a workshop for some of our colleagues at CFP and we thought it would be enriching for everyone to be exposed to these fresh insights. We want this enormously powerful methodology to be accessible to as many people from varied disciplines as possible," says Kripalani.

What is Citizens for Peace (CfP)?
Citizens for Peace (CfP) is a volunteer group based in Mumbai. It's a non-political organisation whose members believe that the best way to settle differences is through open dialogue and respect for the rule of law. The advisory board comprises of prominent personalities like filmmaker Shyam Benegal, former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Rebeiro, BG Deshmukh, former cabinet secretary to the government of India. Trustees include writers Dilip D'Souza and Rajni Bakshi, MARG founder Titoo Ahluwalia, Mid-Day group managing editor Tariq Ansari, Devieka Bhojwani, Dolly Thakore, lawyer Rina Kamath and former CRY CEO Pervin Varma. Filmmaker Gulan Kripalani is the executive director of the organisation.

For more information on CfP, log on to www.citizensforpeace.in

What makes this workshop unique?
>>It will use methodologies drawn from a rich pool of international thinkers, sociologists, psychologists, philosophers and organisational development professionals. These methodologies indicate that awareness and transformation of self is a critical process that we should go through before we address others or try to change systems.u00a0
>>It will not provide prescriptive solutions rather, it will challenge each of us to delve deep into our being and generate new, breakthrough ideas and an ability to envision a new future, acquire the skills to attain it and commit ourselves to working towards it.
>>Participants will include representatives of organisations committed to working in the area of peace, conflict resolution, social justice and equality. Participants will probably have more questions than answers; and will not be afraid to be challenged and to think out of the box.

When: June 26 to 28
Where: Sarvodaya, St. Pius College Compound, Aarey Rd., Goregaon (E)
Location: The residential workshop (2 nights and 3 days) will be held in a quiet campus. Participants will live in rooms with attached bath on a twin-sharing basis. All meals provided.
Cost: The basic cost of the workshop is Rs 5,000 per person and Rs 1,500 each for students and organisations who request it. Cost includes accommodation and all meals for all 3 days.
To register, contact Gulan Kripalani, Executive Director, Citizens for Peace on gulan@citizensforpeace.in or call 9820003572