The first of some frantic blogging over the next few days!
I am aware that I have neglected this blog for a while now but hopefully after reading these entries you will understand how busy I have been and forgive me!
Conflict Resolution, June 30 "Our tears are the same colour"
On June 30 the WIP and SAWIP teams headed over to Georgetown University to listen to a lecturer on Conflict Resolution. This session included a role play, a few videos, a presentation and was a real eye opener for me.
I was really interested in the situations surrounding each conflict and more by the post peace agreement societies. It is a challenge to get leaders on conflicting sides to sit down and reach peace agreements but it is even more difficult to translate this to the streets of a divided a story. We also learnt that 50% of peace agreements fail within the first five years.
One video which really touched me was the story of Robi Damelin in Israel. Robi Damelin lost her son who was shot by a sniper in March 2002. Her story talks of how she got together with other Palestinian and Israeli families who had lost members of their families in the hope of changing each communities perceptions of the other. Her last words on the video were probably the most powerful-
Our tears are the same colour".
I don't want to discuss it too much here because I hope you will watch it and draw your own conclusions. You can watch the video
here. It is only three minutes long and is definitely a real thought provoker.
