University for Peace (UPeace) – Asia Graduation message

This video has excerpts of the whole message. (Thank you Chino, my nephew who took this amateur video.) 

The transcript of the whole message could be found below. 

Good evening to all of you.

 In Naga Pi Chaung Village in Delta region, the hardest-hit area in Myanmar by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 and believed to be an underserved area, I went there with a team from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for my internship. We asked a group of villagers including the village chief about the village’s pressing needs. The village chief responded quickly and identified fishing nets, boats and agricultural inputs and tools as their pressing needs. The villagers agreed to this assessment. Of course, we took note of those needs.

 Then, we asked the women present in the meeting the same question. One woman, apparently a mother, replied, “education.” Teary-eyed, she continued that children in the village have stopped going to school because they have no school to go to (their solitary school was flattened by the cyclone), no teacher, and no school supplies. Afterwards, there was silence in the meeting.

Education! Why not?

 Amidst the shortage or lack of basic necessities in the village such as water, shelter (most of them live in a makeshift shelter wrapped around by blue and white tarpaulins as walls and roof), food, clothes, one woman stressed the need for education in the village.  (I know Ma'am Indai and Ma'am Tina, our professor in gender course and peace psychology, would be happy to hear this story.)

 I believe that three institutions would agree to the woman’s answer, education. These are the institutions that invest, develop, advance and facilitate education for the global village.

 Nippon Foundation has various projects in education including scholarships. One of which is this program. Thank you Nippon Foundation for believing in education as a tool for social change, development and empowerment. Arigato!

The other institution is University for Peace, particularly our Dept. of Peace and Conflict Studies. This small university in Costa Rica is a giant in the field of peace and conflict studies. We, students, are privileged to receive trainings from its topnotch professors who are experts in their own fields. Its multicultural environment adds to the joy and struggles of our learning. It is truly a global village. Gracias UPeace. Pura Vida!

 One more institution worthy as the first, Ateneo de Manila University which is going to celebrate its 150th years of great service through education to Filipinos and foreigners. It has formed and produced distinguished graduates. And we are pleased to be part of the roster of graduates of this institution. Thank you Ateneo. One big fight!

Oh, we also had our 3-week course in La Salle. Yes, you hear me right. It is La Salle. But it was Universidad de la Salle in San Jose, Costa Rica for our foundation course. Well, it is a long story.

Before the drafting of this message, I have asked my classmates if they have anything that they would like to be part of this message. One classmate emailed me. She wrote, “We are trees planted by the hands that have been working for peace.” You probably know whose hands she is referring to. But these trees started from seeds. I have seen how the seeds were provided with the best soil, care, and nurturing environment. And now the trees have grown and ready to bear fruits.

 Since seeds come from a source, I would like to acknowledge our sources, our mothers. Like the mother in Naga Pi Chaung Village, our mothers, I imagine, would also assert the need for education. We all learned first from our mothers – the best education in the world. Thank you, Ma.

 And thank you for that woman in the village who reminded me of what I am holding now, what I’m thinking, feeling, speaking, dreaming – all products of the best education we just received.

I am confident that this education will find its way and expression in whatever career and mission we undertake to contribute to peacebuilding.

 And another classmate whispered to me last night. He wanted to include this message here. As the first batch of the Dual-Campus program, we complained a lot for 19 months. (Balazs, the willing listener of our complaints, knows this). We complained about accommodation, course schedules, late information, coordination between Costa Rica and Manila, and many other things. We struggled too. We struggled with our deadlines, with English in different Asian and other accents, Spanish, the languages in our internship assignments (Bahasa Indonesia). Through these complaints and struggles, we have learned the language of friendship. We shared this friendship in MyPlace, in Bellarmine Building, in cafeterias, in Council room. We celebrated this friendship through birthdays, weekend and course break trips out of town and out of the country. And this friendship will tie us wherever we will be. We may be in the remotest village in Myanmar, conflict-torn areas in Africa or Afganistan, an air-conditioned room in Tokyo, classroom in Indonesia, South Korea or Japan; we will always be reminded that 27 others out there somewhere that peace is not always about the opposite of conflict, it is a way to live.

 I remember Wolfgang who told us that whatever we do, say, think, feel, dream, literally whatever, an energy is released in the world that can make a difference. I once emailed a classmate about this, and I will say it to you again (although I usually don’t say words twice, my apology to that classmate), because of our education, of what we went through, of our unbelievable journey together, of what we believe in, we now all are a difference to this world. I can feel that overflowing energy in this room, share this. Bring this to the villages, to your home countries, to your friends, your families, to whomever we meet. Our energies together and of those we can influence can be a difference, can bring about change, can challenge and transform the structures that restrict others, can respond to human needs including those of the woman in Naga Pi Chaung Village in Myanmar. We can count on the three institutions to be with us. Besides, we have each other.

 If there’s one thing I learned from this 19-month program, it is that I am responsible for my future, a shared future with you, with others. Let us believe then in the future that we can build, together, here.

 Thank you, gracias, Dios mabalos!

Ceasefire, Ceasefire: Breaking the Escalation of Violence

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Social Distance in Facebook: Breaking or Building Barriers Among Differentiated Groups in Cyberspace

Source: http://www.sgclub.com/lifestyle

Social networking sites have captured the interest and aspiration of people especially Filipinos and Filipinas to make contacts and connect with families, friends, and others. To illustrate this, imagine Facebook having over half a billion account users all over the world. Twenty-six million of those are found in the Philippines.  Thus, albeit virtually, numerous contacts are made by differentiated groups through Facebook.

Research has shown that contacts among equals of differentiated groups reduce social distance. With the popularity and wide use of Facebook in the world including the Philippines, do contacts occur among differentiated groups? Or Facebook further solidifies the ingroup and marginalizes the outgroup? Does Facebook break or build social distance among differentiated groups?

It is hypothesized that Facebook facilitates ingroup formation and strengthens its cohesion. Moreover, Facebook does not intentionally marginalize the outgroup.  It helps reduce social distance among groups especially those who have a sizeable number of friends from other groups.

If you have a Facebook account, please take the survey here.

The results of this survey will be presented at the 2011 Philippine Sociological Society National Conference in Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City on October 14-15, 2011.

Thank you very much.

Searching for a Hero (Happy Father's Day)

“Only the leader’s own involvement in reality, within a historical situation, led them to criticize this situation and to wish to change it.” – Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

As we celebrate the 150th birthday of Jose Rizal, are we still in search of a hero?

Coincidentally, on the same day, we celebrate Father’s Day.

Oftentimes we are asked, whom do you consider your hero? And usually we enumerate names we just read from history books. We are told by their exploits and heroism during the times when we could not even relive their lives except the trying words of our historians, documentary shoots, and life-imitating films. Almost, yet persistent in their larger-than-life attempt to capture history, our scholars have provided us a near-to-life panorama of our academic past. We owe it to them if we see Rizal as repository of almost supernatural talents, Bonifacio as a brave man without fear of death, Aguinaldo as a revolutionary who waged his own revolution inside the Philippine revolution. These are the most known heroes and widely read about personalities in the history of our country.

Why Rizal or Bonifacio or Aguinaldo then? What about Bicolano heroes like Jose Ma. Panganiban or Tomas Arejola? Why not our fathers?

For one, our history-book heroes exemplified a life destined to be great, and willingly faced a death by sacrificing their lives. Of course, their deaths were their heroic acts that defined their heroism. To the idealist, they have done in an extraordinary way what any ordinary man could not. To the realist, they simply fulfilled the task assigned by the call of times. To the gestaltist, they completed the missing part of our aspiration for freedom and totality as a nation. To most of us, they responded to the challenge of self-determination. To the rest, they were merely the stories of men printed in the paper, or depicted in a monument, imaged in a bill, or painted in a card.

More than the epic life and death they led, their heroism was highlighted by the classic struggle to free our country from the bondage of colonization of Spain, to liberate from the oppressive imperialism of America, and to save the nation from the inclusive expansion of Japan.

Today the war waged by our heroes continues. It is not yet won but little victories were gained. Although our country does not confront armies of the imperious foreigners, it faces enemies in various forms. The most formidable of these is the prevalent poverty of its own people. Slowly, poverty is eating up what has been gained by our heroes, including the very foundation of our nationhood – our dignity as a people. In times like this, our country needs a hero. Soon, our new hero will certainly rise. I don’t know where I get my hope for this prayer but I am sure somewhere, someone will answer the signs of times.

Our Philippines definitely is in dire search of a hero who will empower its people to perfect its being and fate. Someone who while in power and given the responsibility will yield the same to the people. Have the Ramon Magsaysay Awards helped us find our modern hero? Has the Nobel Prizes eluded us for some reasons?

Your guess is as good as the whole nation who practically begs for everyone to share a piece of this responsibility and power for her/his own people. Our heroes responded to the signs.

And there are other nameless and faceless individuals who do their own share of heroism in our struggle to regain what we had in the beginning of history.

There is certainly one with a name and face that is familiar to us. He may even come with several names (Tatay, Ama, Papa, Father) - but there is only one that endears him to us. Call him, and a hero is with us.

Youth for Peace: Young Adults Who are Changing the World

The Junior Chamber International, or JCI, is a membership based, non-profit coalition of some two hundred thousand young people, aging in range from 18 to 40.  Their goal is simple: to create lasting and positive change in our world, using community-based initiatives to create a global revolution of positive progress.

Once a year, the JCI honors ten up and coming youths through the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World award. Ranging in age from 18 to 40, the award is bestowed upon those young leaders who have shown true innovation, extraordinary service, or a new and creative way to think about an existing community issue.

Of the ten, we will focus on three who are moving us, as a collective unit, toward a much improved and more peaceful world.

Melanie Hennessy visited Nepal when she was only 18 years old. She soon found a full time position in Nepal seeking to alleviate the plight of its children. Having been recognized in the humanitarian/Voluntary Leadership role for her JCI honors, Hennessy established a school in Nepal, with an Orphanage fund set up back home at her Irish University NUI Galway. In addition to starting another charity, TEAM Nepal, she returned in 2010 to create Walking Hospitals, in which volunteers shadow local doctors from village to village to provide assistance to those in need. Melanie was also selected as one of Ireland's Outstanding Young People of the Year.  

Uyapo Ndadi, of Botswana, turned down a well paying job at a law firm to pursue his passions.  Founding the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), he fights against the spread of the virus, as well as for the rights of its sufferers. As an advocate of people's rights, Ndadi fights against discrimination in the workplace while providing legal aid free of charge to clients. He works with communities at all levels in an effort to bring denizens into the fight with BONELA.  Uyapo is now the Director of the organization he started, bringing ethics and honesty to the role as he continues to fight for the human rights of his people in Botswana, a country which has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world.

For the Business, Economic, or Entrepreneurial accomplishment, the JCI gave the award to Emily Cummins. Known for creating the toothpaste squeezer for Arthritis sufferers and a water-carrying device designed for Third World use, Cummins bested herself with the creation of her award-winning portable refrigerator. The solar powered, sustainable device can be built from household items, making it the perfect instrument for Third World countries. In Namibia, Emily became known as the "Fridge Lady" as she toiled for five months in research and development phases. The work paid off—her invention is now saving the lives of countless Africans because medical supplies, as well as food, can now be moved in an uncontaminated fashion, regardless of local water quality. The sick can be treated like no other time in recent memory, all thanks to an invention that 21-year-old Emily thought up in her grandfather's potting shed.

To think on what these young people are accomplishing—all in their early to mid twenties—is truly mind-boggling. It gives us hope as a nation, a world, and as a community tied together in the global marketplace.

When you read about such positive and life-altering changes being made using creativity, wit, and intelligence, it belies an attitude that we can all step forward to make positive changes in our own communities.

Start with something small. You don't need to change the world with the first thing you try. 

Bryce Hammons is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog.