“Be the change you wish to see in the world” – is one of Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes. It is easier said than done because peacebuilding is (and should be!) a conscious and lasting action which requires the participation of every human being, living in the world.
It took Nelson Mandela close to thirty years to achieve his vision of uniting South Africa, and our journey has just begun. It may sound repetitive to you but true enough, lasting peace-building requires sustainable actions and dedication, truck loads of it at at time.
A year has passed and we have engaged and cultivated more than a hundred youth leaders from various corners of the world.
What have we achieved, you may ask?
GPV Camp #5 Campers post-rafting session!
We have set a tone for the future of youth leadership – where strangers meet and become family through a bond not by blood but by a stronger family bond build from genuine trust, understanding and acceptance. We have helped build a safe and open culture, where emotions, visions and thoughts are shared by like minded young people, to breed a culture of peace through a united vision.
So, “how did we achieve this?”, you may be wondering.
When you’re family, you always have each others’ backs.
We gathered the like-minded with a vision of seeing a world where there is equality and acceptance, not discrimination and injustice.
We provided them a safe space space to discuss about ‘taboo’ topics like social discrimination, stereotypes, and racial and religious bias, among the many things discussed. – such activities encourages openness and build rapports among volunteers.
We instilled a culture where they can be themselves and bond with others on an emotional and intellectual level without the fear of being judged.
What motivates us to make such efforts?
GPV Camp #4 Campers during the raft-building session!
We see the need to build a culture of peace and acceptance; peacebuilding is not just an absence of war, it is to build an altruistic culture of love. It is part of the Global Peace value DNA to cultivate youth as they are leaders of today (no longer tomorrow!).
We see the potential in youths in making sustainable peace possible to develop a better world. We nurture the seeds of optimism and grit in youth, in developing the moral leaders of tomorrow.
What’s next you’d ask?
We are one! No matter where we come from or what language we speak!
Well, we would like to work closely with the like minded people we have met (a huge shout out to our dear GPVians from Camp One to Five!) to deliver social goodness hand-in hand.
Oh yeah, how does this work?
A discussion on power and privilege
The aim is to build a community driven by volunteers themselves. Global Peace is a platform and support centre to incubate social goodness- a place where volunteers can pick up key skills crucial to developing their own efforts to deliver impact.
As of now, our youth engagement team is looking at organising monthly workshops followed by quarterly social impact projects- again, it is a community driven by you! –
Tell us what you have in mind and we can work something out as a team.
Sounds cool, how can I be part of this movement?
Stay tuned and participate in our next GPV Camp to kick-start a life long journey of goodness with the Global peace family. You may also write in to us to be kept in the loop of the happenings at Global Peace at brandon@globalpeace.org.my
