Inculcating a culture of peace is more than just providing a community with basic necessities or educating teachers and children of its importance. It requires going back to the core of every individual: if a person is not at peace with himself or herself, he or she can never be at peace with everything around him/her.
This is Acmidah A. Bocua’s realization after undergoing through the TEACHER LEADERS FOR PEACE: PEACE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY (PEDJ) created by the Teach Peace Build Peace Movement (TPBPM) for the purpose of nurturing a Culture of Peace and Resilience in children. This was co-organized with Save the Children in partnership with Plan International and other members of the consortium as part of Pathways for Integrated and Inclusive Conflict-Sensitive Protection and Education for Children in Mindanao (iCOPE) Program.
A teacher at Sultan Alauya Alonto Central Elementary School, Acmidah is one of the 36 teachers who was given the opportunity to participate in the program, which aims to turn teachers into agents of peace to be able to build a citizenry of peace heroes in schools.
Acmidah admitted that she wasn’t a perfect teacher. Before the program, she had a tendency to act in ways that would sometimes scare students. Now, she realized the impact of a teacher in a child’s life. “I hope I was more patient with them,” she said.
But it’s never too late.
While Acmidah’s community in Lanao Del Sur does not have a serious threat to peace and security, Acmidah still pointed out cases of discrimination in their school where some children are judged because of their gender or physical attributes. However, after learning from the program, Acmidah is determined to integrate what she learned in any way possible.
“When I came back from the seminar, I shared everything I learned with my children and students. I started integrating the concept of peace in subjects like Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao.”
Acmidah is also grateful for the opportunity to bring several peace hero children with her to the training. These kids were also taught about the importance of peace and how to incorporate peace in their everyday lives.
According to her, the students had become more aware of their actions towards others and have learned to respect other children. “They now try to teach other kids to stop bullying others,” she observed.
For a person who doesn’t like to share her problems with friends and family, Acmidah now knows the importance of starting from within, “The Formation Session taught me a lot especially when it comes to reflecting. I was able to share and express my feelings and it helped me a lot in terms of realizing what peace really is all about.”
When asked what her most important learning is from the program, Acmidah responded with a genuine smile on her face, “If you don’t have inner peace, how can you encourage your students to have inner peace? It really starts from within, especially for teachers who are supposed to be agents of peace.”
“If you don’t have inner peace, how can you encourage your students to have inner peace? It really starts from within, especially for teachers who are supposed to be agents of peace.”
ABOUT PATHWAYS FOR ICOPE PROGRAM
Save the Children, in partnership with Plan International, is implementing a program called Pathways for Integrated and Inclusive Conflict-Sensitive Protection and Education for Children in Mindanao (iCOPE). This program aims to achieve a sustainable positive engagement, collaboration, and convergence of key actors and stakeholders in providing and supporting conflict-sensitive quality basic education services and protection.
As part of ICOPE Program, Teach Peace Build Peace Movement’s (TPBPM) Peace Heroes Formation Program (PHFP), formerly called Schools and Communities of Peace Heroes Formation Program will be introduced for the purpose of helping schools institutionalize Peace Education to nurture a Culture of Peace and Resiliency amongst children with the whole school community being involved.
