About Conflict and Peace Building
Conflict is a natural part of our everyday lives and is inevitable. Unfortunately without the skills to transform and deal with conflict constructively we see many destructive effects such as violence, inability to communicate effectively, lack of cooperation, mental health issues (stress, low self esteem, unclear perceptions) and an inability to trust.
Multicultural Village takes into account the unique conflict context and needs of the different people we work with. The Village gives its particpants multiple opportunities to learn/build/practice skills and acquire knowledge needed to deal with their conflicts constructively and to actively DO peace which they can use to enhance their everyday lives.
Cumaca it was good being there!
We descended on the tiny village of Cumaca on Saturday August 2 and there is a mutual love and respect that I have not felt in a long time. The real Cumaca Villagers and simulated "Villagers" of Multicultural Village have bonded in a natural way. The first night was "rough". The darkness was heavy and we were all scared. The interns had the deer in headlights look for almost two days and the "Villagers" screamed about all nature's creatures for most of the night. By the second night the bats, mats, lizards and snakes became secondary. Even the youth that came from the US seemed to fit into Village life as if they lived in rural Cumaca all their life.
Trinidad Village 2008
Help from Diaspora
Just when I thought "Damn this is it...how will I get the money to buy food to feed these children" the Trinidad diaspora rides in and literally save the day. For a second I thought we had to suck mango and fish in the Cumaca river to get our daily meals.
Unity Sport and Cultural Club is an organization in Boston that is a meeting place for Trinidadians and West Indians alike to meet, organize events, do community work and socialize...ok and sometimes to party. When we told Unity about our need to ship food items to Trinidad because of food shortages and the general lack of assistance from entities in Trinidad, they did not hesitate. Within a two week period, the President Mr. Clarence Cooper organized a significant contribution which helped to take care of Multicultural Village's food dilemma. How is that for Unity.... U-N-I-T-Y!
Oh I eh done yet. We took care of the food problem but now we had to ship it and yes that is another set of money. Most Trinis remember Sophia Titus now Henderson the darling that melted the hearts and other body parts of Trini men for years with her stunning looks. Well, after a desperate phone call to her she rallied and sponsored the shipping cost which is not a penny by the way. Sister coughed up some serious currency.
Still not done. Multicultural Village is doing a community reading as part of the program. This means we need books...plenty books. We are reading Night by Eli Wiesel and getting the books to Trinidad is one drama but before that we have to buy them. More money to spend that we don't have. In comes another Trni to save the day. Dr Patricia Zamor of Zamor and Associates sponsored all the books that we needed to use for the program. Needless to say that eh cheap but did she belly up?... no she pulled out that credit card and chi ching...chi ching...we now have books.
I'm so proud of my transplants. Who said Trinis don't help each other in times of need. The diaspora really made me proud and I had to give all three honorable mention. Hey maybe they can teach our countrymen a thing or two..or three or four about charitable work for the good of our youth. These three people probably think that they did a little, but in the scheme of things they are making a bigger sustainable mark on Trinidad and Tobago than they realize. Investing in conflict resolution skill building for our youth is just as important as building a new highway..because these skills last for life and can take its owners on a journey through life that is full of opportunity instead of danger.
Ok I'm starting to preach now so it's time to sign out.
In Peace
dmc