Getting isolated during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic took a toll on everyone’s inner peace, Moriatao o Ranao found a peaceful way to deal with it.

Coping with Isolation

Retelling their struggles during the pandemic, Mariatao o Ranao representative Adbulhakim Alimona shared that being isolated from other people affected his mental health. While they wanted to help others, they were limited by the quarantine restrictions and fear of catching the virus.

According to monitoring reports by civil society organizations, twenty-one recorded armed hostilities occurred during the lockdown between March 2020 to June 2020 in the Bangsamoro region. The pandemic has further broadened the vulnerabilities of younger individuals, such as a poor sense of belongingness and exposure to conflict propaganda. These issues were breeding grounds for violent groups to potentially recruit the youth to join the armed conflict.

Nurturing inner peace through UG5

Fortunately, Alimona was selected by Mariatao o Ranao to be part of the Peace Education Leadership Training Course organized by the Teach Peace Build Peace Movement. In this training, they found the Five Acts of Universal Goodness (UG5) to be vital learning for their organization and themselves.

UG5 is a practice that covers a holistic approach on cleanliness, orderliness, politeness, punctuality, and meditation. It covered the utmost essential requirements to nurture the inner peace of an individual and develop overall well-being from their physical body to their social interaction.

Alimona shared that this approach to living is an important lesson that should be conveyed to communities, especially children and youth like themselves. They said one should also be aware of their own needs to understand each other. For them, the psychosocial sessions helped them understand different principles for protecting their inner peace to be influential peace heroes.

As part of a youth organization, they shared that they were now more equipped to implement peace sessions because they better understood the concept of peace. They can embody and promote the culture of peace as an individual and as an organization. By caring for themselves and each other, they can be a stronger unit to institutionalize peace education in their community. This approach builds trust among themselves, which will be the first step as they reach out to communities.

With a deep concern for children and youth, Alimona emphasized gaining trust from the communities so that they can work together and encourage a more productive approach to countering narratives of conflict. For Alimona, if the children in their community are not exposed to practices related to peace and grow up not learning about peace education, they may go astray and pursue a path that could lead to conflict and violence.

By taking care of themselves and protecting their inner peace, they would be more capable in sharing peace to others. The cooperation between their organization and their communities lies in the trust brought by the mutual practice and observation of peace values.